


It Came from Tumblr: Mystery Skulls

by Eternal_Phantom



Series: It Came From Tumblr [7]
Category: Mystery Skulls Animated
Genre: More tags will be added as I add bits, Rating May Change
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-09-13
Updated: 2020-09-14
Packaged: 2021-03-07 00:54:39
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 17
Words: 33,844
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26448142
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Eternal_Phantom/pseuds/Eternal_Phantom
Summary: Fic bits and loose chapters from my tumblr
Series: It Came From Tumblr [7]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1924756
Comments: 38
Kudos: 36





	1. Corazón de los Sueños Part 1

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This one's been modified a bit from the original tumblr version, correcting things like Vivi's surname and Lewis's siblings, which we didn't have information on when I first wrote the story
> 
> All Spanish comes from Google Translate

Lewis didn’t remember anything before the evening he woke up on the Pepper’s couch. The doctors hadn’t been able to help, neither had the social workers. The only identifying thing he owned was his shoes with the name Lewis. And even then there was a sliver of doubt, the shoes could have been bought second hand. Maybe Lewis was his surname and not his given one? They weren’t even sure about his ethnicity as first. He had a naturally tan skin that might have been Mediterranean descent. Or Indian. Or Latino. Or Native American. Sometimes he envied people who had a strong ethnic appearance, like Mrs. Pepper (later known as Mom) and Mr. Tanaka down the street.

It had been mid-September of his first year, back when the Peppers were still just fostering him. He had seen some skeleton decorations for sale and asked if they were for Dia De Muertos.

Mrs. Pepper had look at him for a moment and asked “¿Puedes entender lo que estoy diciendo”

Lewis’s responding “Si,” had her grinning.

“You speak Spanish, Lewis.” And he felt his heart explode in happiness. He had finally learned something about himself. And further learning about how little the holiday was celebrated in America, he learned he’d in all likelihood been of Hispanic descent.

After that he’d always loved the holiday that had given him a piece of himself.

His new family had joined in too. The restaurant was always decorated for the celebration lasting till November Second. Mr. Pepper made sugar calaveras, which quickly became a popular item during the season. On Halloween, after trick-or-treating, they’d pray for the souls of lost children. On November Second, they’d visit the deceased members of their family and pay their respects.

Admittedly their ritual for November First was a little different than the norm. Rather than merely praying for the souls of adults, they would visit the cemetery and find a grave that clearly hadn’t been visited in a while. They would clean it up, light some candles, and Lewis would introduce himself and tell the grave about what had been going on in the world. He’d also make sure to visit graves they had done this for previously. His own missing memories clawed in the back of his mind. No one deserved to be forgotten.

After he’d made friends with Vivi Yukino and Arthur Kingsmen, they also joined in. Vivi was ecstatic her favorite holiday could be extended two extra days. Arthur just got a determined look on his face when Lewis explained how he didn’t want anyone to be forgotten and had joined him in the cemetery every November First.

When they’d first started traveling, it was understood that they would always be home by Halloween, so they could celebrate the first evening of Dia de Muertos (and take his younger sisters) trick-or-treating).

Thus is was with a tired squeal if the brakes that Lewis parked the van in his driveway one October Thirtieth. They had been driving since before daybreak in order to get back home in time. Vivi had been dropped off already. As Lewis left the car, Arthur slid over to the driver’s seat. The van had been bought by both of them and they often switched it between them. Tonight it would stay at Kingsmen’s where Arthur could check it for any wear and tear from the road trip. It would be nice if they could get that shared apartment they had talked about, but for now it was just a pipe dream. He yawned as Arthur pulled out, tiredly entering his family home. He was immediately greeted with a hug.

“Mom? What are you doing awake at this hour?” He squinted at the wall clock that now read three am.

“Waiting to make sure my baby got home safe.” Most people found his mother intimidating, something Lewis never understood. How could someone so obviously full of love be scary? “I knew there was no way you were going to miss tomorrow, even if you had to drive all night.”

He chuckled. She knew him well. “Now of to bed,” She insisted with a peck on his cheek. “Tomorrow’s going to be a big day. And you have a client who wants to meet with you.”

“A client? But tomorrow’s the first day!”

“I know, but I also know that you three need more jobs than you’re getting. The case is local, so you won’t have to leave town. If you don’t finish it by evening, you can come back and we can have our celebrations.”

Lewis smiled. She knew how much Dia de Muertos meant to him. “It wouldn’t hurt to hear him out. I’ll call Vivi and Arthur in the morning.”

“In the morning. Now you sleep.”

“Yes Mama,” He grinned. No matter how old he got, he’d never stop being her little boy.

~

More than once Lewis had wondered where exactly his girlfriend got all her energy. He still felt drained from the long trip the day before and Arthur looked like he had about the same amount of life as the ghosts they hunted. Vivi’s dog, a white Kishu-Inu named Mystery sat patiently at his master’s feet. By contrast Vivi was awake, alert, and practically bouncing in her seat. “We’ve never had a case so close to home. And the client was looking for us specifically. That means we’re getting well known. This is so exciting!”

“Glad you’re happy,” Arthur muttered into his third cup of coffee.

“Excuse me, are you ‘Mystery Skulls’?” The man who approached the table was obviously nervous.

“That’s us!” Vivi bounced up. “Sit down, take a load off. We’ll get you some of Mrs. Pepper’s coffee and you could tell us about what happened.”

“No coffee, please,” The man sat down. “I’m not really sure when to begin, to be honest. Most of the stuff in the beginning could be perfectly normal. I work as a forest ranger. Now’s the time of year when things tend to quiet down. Animals hibernate or migrate. Bugs die off, things like that.”

“Instead there’s been an upswing in prey animals. Bugs, small rodents, even the plant life that’s usually dead by now is thriving. And now the critters are getting bigger too. I guess an increase food supply could lead to that, but some of them are pushing the boundaries of how big the species can get.”

The man fiddled with his hat. “It’s weird, but Mother Nature’s done weirder, you know. Then there’s the little girl…”

Arthur groaned. “Creepy little girls are almost always demons in disguise.”

“I don’t think so,” the ranger said, “She wasn’t really creepy. She came to play in the forest each day this summer. Every time I found her I thought I heard her talking to someone, but she was alone when I got there. I thought she had just had an imaginary friend. Then she stopped coming. I ran into her in town last week and asked her if she’d found somewhere new to play. She didn’t recognize me, or remember that she’d ever been playing in the forest.”

“You’re right, she sounds more like a victim of whatever is happening than the culprit,” Vivi agreed, a bit subdue. She’d never admit it the the boys, but memory alteration was one of the few things that really freaked her out.

The ranger sighed. “Then things got worse. The forest just seemed darker. People have started claiming they were seeing monsters. Animals are turning up dead and mutilated. I didn’t know where else to turn.”

“We’ll take the case,” Vivi declared, as usual not consulting the other two. Lewis had no objections, anyway. Arthur looked a pensive, as usual, but not outright arguing.

“Is there any history or supernatural happenings in the area? Or did something happen last spring before the little girl started playing in the forest? A lost hiker or missing person that was never recovered?” Lewis inquired. Always best to get something like that out in the open.

“Nothing overtly supernatural, but there was an earthquake, last spring. That’s the only thing I can think of.”

~

“So what are we thinking,” Vivi asked from her usual perch of shotgun. “Earthquake might have let a trapped demon loose.”

Arthur suppressed a shudder, he was driving after all. “I don’t know. The pattern of escalation reads more like a curse. Probably on an area since it doesn’t seem be targeting anyone in particular. Maybe someone did die in forest and just was never reported missing.”

“I don’t think either of those sound right,” Lewis thought hard. He was sitting in the back, Mystery curled up at his feet. “The little girl was removed from the picture right before the escalation started to increase. I think whatever caused this wanted her to be safe. That wouldn’t fit a curse, which isn’t sapient, or a demon, which has no moral compass. My guess would be enraged nature spirit. Maybe a dryad whose tree got destroyed.”

“Never fun, but better than demons,” was Arthur’s only comment as he turned the van offroad. There were some dirt paths that lead into the forest, mostly forged by campers than actual roads. “So what’s the plan, drive around until something spooky happens?”

“Not the best investigative method, but it hasn’t failed us yet,” Vivi confirmed. “So what is everyone going as for trick or treating tonight? I was thinking the Shadow from those old radio shows. NOT the movie.”

“I’m going with Sissel from Ghost Trick, what about you Lewis?” Arthur added.

“Manolo from Book of Life. The girls loved the movie. Paprika is going as La Muerta and Cayenne and Belle as the Scardelita and Adelita. Momma’s going to do our make-up.”

“Oooh, I wish you had told us. I could have been Maria.” Vivi squeed.

“And that would have left me as Joachim? I’ll stick with the amnesiac ghost.” Arthur grumbled.

“Joachim was adorable,” Vivi poked him is his side. “JOACHIIIIIIIIIIIIIIM!” She flung her arm out in a pose.

“Joachim told his best friend to die,” Arthur grumbled again. “When Manolo needed his support the most.”

“Yeah, but he was -LOOK OUT!” Lewis cried.

Arthur slammed on the brakes, thanking what ever might be listening that they hadn’t been going very fast. There was a dead wolf in the dirt road. And it was taking up most of it. The creature was the size of a horse and partially disemboweled.

“This looks almost like a warg out of Lord of the Rings,” Vivi whispered, jumping out of the van.

“Are you insane? What if that thing’s not dead?” Arthur leapt after her, ready to drag her back in.

Lewis hadn’t said anything, but was out of the van and right behind Vivi before she was halfway to the roadblock.

“This is amazing,” she gushed, “That ranger guys was talking about large animals, but this is incredible!” She had her camera out and was taking picture after picture. Mystery stood back and growled.

“I’m more worried about what killed it,” Though being the pessimist was normally Arthur’s role, Lewis was on edge. He could feel the darkness the ranger had spoke of and didn’t like it.

Arthur studied the cadaver. “I’m with Lewis. It’s torn apart, but doesn’t look like it was eaten. This it bad. We should head back to civilization.”

Vivi pouted at them. “Guys, there is a _real mystery_ here. It’s our job to solve this.”

“Not without weapons.” Lewis put his foot down. “This isn’t our usual cultist or ghost. There are dangerous things in this forest. If this wolf was part of a similarly sized pack, they could tear us apart. Rule number one: We don’t risk our own safety.”

Vivi sighed, but internally relented. They were right, no matter how much she wanted to stay. As she turned to go the great bulk in front of them shuddered. Mystery growled again

“Did it just?”

“ _In the van! In the van_!” Arthur yelped. They turned back but fore they could move two feet the creature leapt over them, cutting off their escape. Yet for all it’s grace and power, it was even more obvious the thing was dead. It’s guts were dragging along the ground and half it’s head was missing.

“Zombie Warg,” Vivi whispered.

“Those had better not be your last words,” Arthur hissed.

Lewis held Vivi tight, Practically wrapping his larger body around hers. It might only buy her a few seconds, but he’d do whatever he could. Mystery obviously felt the same, standing right in front of his mistress defensively. Arthur was a little on the side, his body tensed in fight or flight mode. But Lewis knew he would never run if they were in danger. And Arthur didn’t have any more chance in a fight with that thing than he did.

The wolf pounced straight in the middle. Arthur rolled to one side, Lewis grabbed Vivi and leapt to the other. The dog ended up between the wolf’s legs and darted towards the majority of his pack.

Lewis heard the other man yelp in shock. “Arthur, are you okay?”

The only response he got was the wolf growling. No word from his best friend. “ ** _Arthur answer me_**!”

“No,” Vivi started to tear up. “He has to be okay,”

“Arth-” Lewis’s cry was cut off by a sudden feeling of falling. The vertigo was interrupted by the feeling of another earthquake. A large paw, god, he was only the size of it’s toe, landed beside him.

“Lewis, I think we shrunk,” Vivi observed, looking at the giant plants and rocks around them. Mystery was very put out, growling and whimpering at everything.

“How?” This day was simply too much for the purple haired man. Fortunately the wolf-thing either hadn’t noticed them or decided prey so small wasn’t worth the effort. It wandered off.

“Thank goodness for small favors,” Lewis sighed. “Now we need to find-”

“Guys!, Hey guys!”

“Arthur!” Lewis and Vivi cried out together.

Their blond friend was alright. He was running over to them, being followed by…

“Lewis it’s a FAIRY, this day keeps getting better and better.” Vivi gushed. The two boys shared a look of exasperation. “Can I take your picture?” she began fumbling for the camera around her neck.

“Perhaps at another time,” The fairy said, “We must leave at once.”

“I will accept just about anything if it gets me out of this forest,” Arthur declared.

“Leave? Oh, that’s out of the question, Chosen Ones. I must take you to meet the Ancient One. Only then can you save our forest from the Corrupted Heart.”


	2. Corazón de los Sueños Part 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The second part of this little romp

“The Corrupted Heart?” Viv was at full attention “Is that what’s causing the trouble? Is it an artifact or a demon or a…”

“Vivi, I think we should focus on the part where the fairy said we couldn’t leave!” Arthur looked like he was a moment away from hyperventilating.

Lewis put a comforting hand on his shoulder. “It’s fine Arthur,”

“ _No it’s-_ ”

Lewis ducked his head low. “We don’t want to antagonize the only person who can get us back to our real size,” he whispered. At least he assumed the fairy was responsible for their reduced state. Between it and the ‘Zombie-Warg’, Lewis didn’t want to think of the mess if there was even more supernatural beings. Besides, of course, whatever this Corrupted Heart was.

Arthur gulped and swallowed his complaints. This place was dangerous at their normal size, he didn’t fancy trying to get back when kitten could carry him off and devour him. “So, is this Ancient One nearby? Because crossing half the road felt like a football field.”

The fairy shook her head. “Nay, Chosen One. She dwells inside a cave at the base of that hill.” The fairy pointed to a rise in the terrain about two miles off.

“I don’t suppose you could return us to our normal size,” Lewis suggested gently. “With our van, we could be there in a few minutes.”

The fairy shook her head. “It wouldn’t be safe, Chosen one. The great beasts might leave you alone, but there are more dead walkers like that one. They ignore things our size, but would surely attack your van, were it in motion.”

Drat. There was, of course, always the possibility the fairy was lying. But if that were the case, she probably wasn’t planning on turning them back anyway.

Even Vivi was frowning. “It might be worth the risk. At our current size, that could take days.”

The fairy smiled. “It is not a problem. My magic can help us get there much faster." She clapped her hands and there was a spark of magic.

The three investigators and dog felt a strange feeling go through them, centering on their back. Lewis instinctively looked over Vivi to make sure she was okay and his breath caught in his chest.

She had wings.

Much like the fairy’s they were translucent gossamer, shaped like Tinker Bell’s from the Disney movies. Unlike the fairy’s, which were colorless, Vivi’s were a brilliant azure with black trim. They were the most beautiful thing Lewis had ever seen.

It took a moment for him to realize she was staring at him as well. Lewis broke his gaze to look over his shoulders. He felt his back twitch as his own wings instinctively spread. He could make out a yellow dot at the tip and iridescent purple. “We’ve got wings, Vi.” Lewis stated, breathlessly.

“No kidding,” Arthur replied, from where he was calming down Mystery. Arthur’s wings were the same shape as Vivi’s (and presumably Lewis’s own). They were a striking yellow-orange with black looping lines. The edges were black with small white dots.

Mystery’s wings were the only ones differently shaped. His were like dragon-fly wings. Mostly black with some white dots. and a vibrant red closer to the base. The lower wings had white dots within black ones at the red part.

“They look like little Deadpool faces!” Vivi grinned. “This is the coolest day ever!” As she went over to pet the very confused dog, something clicked for Lewis.

“Butterflies! Our wings are colored like different kinds of butterflies. Vivi’s a Blue Morpho, Arthur’s a Monarch, Mystery’s a Red Admiral, and I think I’m a Parvon Emperor.” The yellow spot made it likely, though he had trouble seeing his own wings.

Vivi smile turned into a frown. “Emperor, Monarch, Admiral, and Morpho? What the heck is a Morpho. I want to be something cool too.”

Lewis thought a moment. “Well, if I remember Belle’s book, it was referencing a goddess,” Aphrodite, the Goddess of Beauty, in fact. Not a bad comparison in Lewis’s opinion. But the Goddess would need Athena’s brains and Artemis’s ferocity before she could even start to match up to his Vivi.

She considered this a moment, then decided a goddess was acceptable.”Okay? Now how do we use these things?”

The fairy looked confused. “You fly with them.” she responded.

“Yeah, but how?” Vivi hopped a few times. The wings fluttered a bit, but failed to give her enough lift.

“Kaitie did not have any difficulty,” The fairy responded. “She took to it naturally.”

“Kaitie?” Vivi latched on to that, “Is that the name of the little girl who used to play here?”

“She was my friend. She would come everyday to play with me.” The fairy’s wings drooped. “I miss her. I know it’s too dangerous for her. The Ancient One keeps me company, but it’s not the same.”

Well, that was one mystery solved. “Maybe we can bring her back after we clear up to evil.” Vivi suggested. The fairy brightened considerably.

“Thank you, Chosen One!”

“Maybe it works like in Peter Pan,” Vivi suggested. “Happy thoughts?”

“Arthur’s going to have some trouble, then” Lewis joked.

“Bite me,” Arthur responded. “Maybe we’re over-thinking this. If a little girl picked it up so quickly it can’t be that complicated. It might just be as easy as wanting to go uuuupp!” Arthur’s words turned into a cry of alarm as his wings buzzed into motion. He shot directly upward and was climbing at a fast rate.

Almost without thinking, Lewis flew up after him. He grabbed Arthur by his leg, which immediately stopped Arthur’s upward momentum. He held on for a moment then let go. Arthur hovered in place.

“Lew, you’re flying. Holy Crap, _I’m_ flying.” A look of giddy excitement flowed over his face. “I”m flying, Lewis!” He did a flip in mid air. “This is incredible!” He laughed in a carefree manner Lewis had never heard before.

The euphoria was contagious and Lewis felt himself grinning. He turned in the air as easy as if he’d been on the ground. It seemed the key really was not to think about it. Perspective was an amazing thing. It felt like he was as high as a building, yet he knew he wasn’t even at his normal waist level. “You coming, Vivi?” He called down as Arthur executed a number of acrobatics he’d never be capable of normally.

The love of his life was hovering a bit off the ground. “I’m trying to get Mystery to come up. I can’t really explain to him what we’re doing.” She explained, concerned.

“Just go a bit higher, he should follow,” Lewis called down.

Vivi gave it a try and sure enough Mystery lifted off the ground to follow her, legs paddling as though he was trying to swim through the air. Vivi lifted up her camera and began to take pictures. “This is the cutest thing ever!”

“We should stay close to the ground, or among the branches, Chosen Ones,” The fairy warned. “The dead walkers will leave us alone, but other predators won’t.”

Reflexively Lewis nabbed Arthur and dragged him back towards to ground.

They flew low to the ground. Arthur gave the van a sad look as the crossed the road once more. He didn’t like the idea of leaving it. No matter how awesome the fact that he could fly was.

The trip was largely uneventful. They followed their guide closely through the trees and brush. After about half an hour they reached a break in the trees in front of the hill. The mouth of the ‘cave’ was a large crack that looked fairly recent.

“The Ancient One is in there?” Vivi confirmed.

“Yes. She’s been in there ever since she failed in her own confrontation with the Evil.”

“Good enough,” Vivi took off, Mystery at her heels.

Lewis and Arthur rolled their eyes and followed.

_TSEEEER_

Vivi turned in shock as a hawk swooped down and grabbed both Lewis and Arthur in it’s claws. For a moment she saw red and faster than a thought she was following. The hawk was moving away quickly, but she was faster. And she had an advantage the raptor’s normal opponents didn’t. Hands.

She closed both hands around a tail feather and **yanked**. The bird screeched and suddenly a beak was snapping mere millimeters from Vivi’s face. She didn’t even blink as she kicked it hard. She switched her grip from it’s tail to it’s neck, holding on for dear life. She began kicking it with all her strength. **“THOSE. ARE. MY. BOYS. _LET. THEM. GO!”_**

Her attacks were enough that the talons at least loosened and the smaller captive manage to wiggle free. Rather than escape though, Arthur began to harry the hawk. He used his superior maneuverability to launch lightning fast attacks, hitting the head, the wings, and the leg still holding Lewis.

Mystery just latched on to the leg right above Lewis and refused to let go.

It didn’t take long before even a juicy tidbit like Lewis just wasn’t worth the effort. The hawk let his go and frantically tried to escape the swarm of paranormal investigators. Once Lewis was released, Mystery released the leg. Vivi gave it one last kick before she let it go as well.

“You better run!” Arthur shook his fist at the bird as it flew away.

Vivi couldn’t help but laugh at her friend bravado. Lewis just shook his head. “Okay, kidnapping. I am not a fan.”

The fairy flew up to them, her eyes sparkling. “That was _amazing_. I would have been slain for sure. No wonder you are the Chosen Ones.”

Arthur blushed. “It was mostly Vivi.”

“You helped,” Lewis elbowed him good - naturedly. “How was it saving me for once?” Arthur’s blush reached his ears.

Vivi brushed some imaginary lint off her shirt. “All in a day’s work.”

The fairy led them down through the crack. The cave inside, however, was no natural formation. The floor was stone tiles and various intricate carving decorated to walls. In the center was a dais with a broken pedestal.

A sepia toned-ghost of an elderly woman floated towards them. “Hello, Nita. Have you brought guests?”


	3. Corazón de los Sueños Part 3

That voice - was really familiar. Arthur fluttered closer to the ghost, taking a good look. “Mrs. Henderson?”

The ghost, in response, looked closer at him. “Artie Kingsmen, is that you? Good heavens, child, what happened?”

“Wait, Mrs. Henderson? As in Third Grade English class, Mrs. Henderson?” Vivi asked, bewildered.

“And Vivian too? I suppose that makes that purple fellow Lewis Smith?”

“It’s Pepper, now.” Lewis corrected.

“The adoption went through, then? Oh congratulations Lewis!” The elderly woman clapped her hands together, beaming at him.

The young found himself blushing with happiness. It had been over a decade since his adoption, but it still never failed to cheer him up. “Thank you, Mam.”

“Look at all of you. I’d say you’ve grown, but you appear to have shrunk instead. Nita, was this your doing?”

The fairy, Nita apparently, nodded. “A dead walker of one of the Great Beasts was attacking them. I shrunk them so it wouldn’t notice.”

“And why bring them here? I can’t do anything to protect them, Nita. This cave might dampen it’s magic, but he won’t listen to me.” the ghost of Mrs. Henderson said sadly.

“They’re the Chosen Ones!” Nita exclaimed. “They’ll stop the Corrupted Heart and save the forest.”

Mrs. Henderson frowned. “What makes you say that, Nita?” The three psuedo-fairies listened closely too, eager for any information they could get.

“Because they’re here." Nita explained brightly. "Katie says when things are at their worst, heroes appear chosen by destiny. They came right into the forest. They must be the Chosen Ones.” 

“Oh Nita,” Mrs. Henderson sighed and shook her head.

“So, no prophecy or anything?” Arthur visibly drooped.

“You wanted a prophecy?” Lewis asked, raising an eyebrow. That sounded like something Vivi would be excited for more than Arthur.

“Prophecies tend to come with at least a fifty-fifty chance and usually hints for defeating the evil,” Vivi supplied, understanding Arthur's thought process.. “Also prophesied heroes usually get some kind of enchanted weapon or other magical macguffin. Not actually being ‘chosen’ makes our job a lot harder.” She then turned her attention back to Mrs. Henderson. “Can you or Nita tell us at all about what’s been happening?”

Mrs. Henderson nodded and gestured to the pedestal. “There was something here. I only saw it briefly. It looked like a glass heart about the size of a head. Inside looked a bit like the night sky. There’s some kind of inscription, but I’m afraid Spanish isn’t a language I’m all that fluent in.”

“Katie and I don’t speak it either,” Nita added.

“But I do,” Lewis volunteered. He flew over to the inscription, illuminated by the ghost’s glow.

“Corazón de los Sueños - The Heart of Dreams,” Lewis translated. “It was always meant as a gift. Something to make life easier. But it works too well. It tries to make us happy, but can humans ever be truly happy? Often making one person happy costs another. Some wishes have consequences never imagined. Or people with darkness in their hearts make wishes for terrible things. Those, it at least tries to resist."

"For generations my family have kept it safe and secluded. Far from where an idle wish might manifest. I will not lie, occasionally when times got tough we used it’s power to help. We even brought it with us when we left Mexico."

""We were followed. Others had heard of this power and tried to seize it for themselves. It was stopping one such attempt that my wife was slain. And to return life to the dead is the one wish the Corazón had never been able to grant."

"I cannot risk such a fate befalling my son. And so I have come here, in the seventh month of this new century, so that this artifact of power might grant my final wishes. The first is that this cave becomes a chamber to seal the Corazón’s power that no human may breach, with this warning left just in case. The second is that all memory and records of anything related to the Corazón de los Sueños be gone as if they never existed. The third is that my son be taken care of and loved."

"The attack that killed my wife left me with a cursed wound. Perhaps I could use the Corazón to heal it, but I think it’s best I join her. Let my son grow up free from all this curse has touched."

"If you are reading this, then the seal had broken and I have failed. I beg you, seal this cave and prevent the Corazón from ever reaching human hands,”

Mrs. Henderson sighed. “If only that young girl could have read that message, all of this could have been avoided. Best if you start explaining things, Nita. You were here before me.”

“Yes, Ancient One. Katie found the, um you called it the Corazón, she just called it a heart. And she wished for me!” The fairy twirled happily. “She would come to play with me every day. We always stayed on the edge of the forest to avoid the great beasts.”

“The ‘great beasts’ were already there when you were, um, born?” Lewis asked.

“Actually that makes sense,” Arthur surmised. “I’m sure animals wandered into the cave long before Katie found it. If that thing wasn’t limited to human wishes, well, what would animals be wishing for? More food and to be larger.”

“Which is why the sudden large animals and preponderance of prey,” Vivi filled in. “All the weird things that have been happening have been because of animals making wishes by the Corazón de los Sueños. Except the zombies. I can’t picture any animal wishing for that.”

A sigh issued from the ghost. “You’re right, Vivian. That’s where my part of the story begins. I passed away this August. It wasn’t unexpected, but my husband was distraught. Katie Tanbel lived down the street from us. She saw how depressed my husband was and tried to cheer him up. She brought him here so he could make a wish and be happy again. Sadly neither of them could read the inscription. My husband tried to bring me back to him. I appeared as I am now, a mere ghost. He tried so hard, wished with all his might that I would join him in life.”

“The one wish the Corazón can’t grant,” Vivi whispered sadly.

“Grant grew infuriated that he couldn’t have his wish. I don’t know what he was thinking at the time, but he somehow wiped the knowledge of the Heart from Katie’s mind and sent her on her way.” She shuddered. “I’m glad he did it though, before the madness overtook him.”

“He decided if he couldn’t bring me back to life, he’d create a world where we could still live together. He create a house - more of a mansion, really- and began experimenting with the Heart’s power. He created an effect over most of the forest. Anything bigger than an insect that dies comes under his control. Now undead creatures wander the forest attacking anything that might interfere with Grant’s plan. Ghosts and spirits are bound to his will. The only reason I’m unaffected is this cave. I suppose it makes sense, if it was created to block the magic. If I step foot outside, I can feel it start to twist in my mind.”

“Since that wish, he’s been in the mansion, focusing his power. He plans to collapse the land of the living and the afterlife into one realm. He plans to begin the collapse at midnight on Halloween. I’m afraid being trapped in this cave, I’ve lost track of the time. I have no idea how many days or weeks we have left.”

Vivi checker her watch. “Seven hours. We’ve got seven hours to stop the end of the world.”


	4. GearDeads

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This was a bit of cuteness I wrote to balance something I dubbed 'The Depressing thing'. I will not be posting that here, content to leave it to the annals of Tumblr.

Deadbeats come and go. It’s something Lewis had gotten used to. Some wanted to strike out on their own. Others found another ghost they’d rather be bonded to. Some came back, some didn’t. It had hurt him the first time, but it happened.

When he’d felt one of the little guys cut their connection, he was sad, as he always was, but wished it a better afterlife. The matter slipped his mind completely.

He would never have given it a second thought, if not for a few hours later when he heard someone clanking in Arthur’s workroom. He opened the door, intending to scare or scold whoever was in there. Upon seeing the occupant, his eye sockets widened. He silently closed the door and went to go find Mystery.

~

Arthur felt slightly frustrated as the sound of knocking. He didn’t sleep a lot as it was, now he was being woken up. “Go ‘way.” he yelled out sleepily. 

“Arthur, it’s important.” Lewis pleaded.

The mechanic sat up. There was no way Mother Hen Lewis would wake him up if it wasn’t important. “Come in then,” He called, trying to wake up further. 

Lewis came in, followed by Mystery. The purple ghost was holding a Deadbeat in his hands. Arthur recognized it as the one that had been hanging out around his workshop. The little guy had even started to make himself look like Arthur, his pink hue changing to an orange one and his little antennae splitting in two and turning black. It was kind of cute, honestly.

“If it’s about the change of appearance, he did that himself. I didn’t tell him to. I know he’s yours,” He hoped Lewis hadn’t woken him up to scold him about dressing up his minion.

Lewis and Mystery shared a nervous look. “Actually, he’s not. Not anymore. He cut his connection.”

Now Arthur was awake. “But he still looks like a Deadbeat?” Usually when a spirit separated it either became formless or like the subordinates of the new ghost it had attached itself too.

“Arthur, you know how you sometimes get stuck in spirit trap?” Mystery lead.

“Because my aura ‘bleeds’, I know.” Arthur rolled his eyes. Why was this being brought up now?

“He’s kind of…attached…to you,” Lewis answered haltingly.

“He likes me I know, but-” Arthur cut off as realized what Lewis was saying. “Is that possible?”

“That’s what Lewis wanted me to explain. Lesser spirits are like remora, they feed on excess spiritual energy that powerful ghosts emit. In return they become something of an extension of the host. Since you emit the same energy, there’s really no reason one can’t attach itself to you.” Mystery explained.

Lewis released the former Deadbeat, which flew to it’s new master. Rather than cooing as always had, it made a whirring noise. But now Arthur could understand it as though it were speaking English. “No, I’m not mad at you,” he reassured the spirit. “I’m just confused. This isn’t going to be dangerous, is it?” he inquired of Mystery.

“No, since it absorbs your ambient energy and doesn’t actively drain your soul. You should be fine.” Mystery assured. “We just wanted to let you know since it’s likely now that you have one, others will follow.”

Arthur gulped, “That’s going to be -” Interesting? Hard to explain?

“Useful,” Lewis supplied. “Spirits like that are territorial to a degree. If something tries to possess you, it will do it’s best to stop it. The more of them you have, the safer you’ll be.”

“Not to mention since they’re patterning off you and not Lewis they’ll likely gain an amount of technical expertise and can act as aids, though any Deadbeat that flock to you will in all likelihood loose the musical ability gained from Lewis.” Mystery added.

“Wow,” Arthur didn’t know what else to say.

“We should let you get back to sleep.” Lewis offered.

“You really think I’m going to sleep now?” Arthur asked sardonically. The spirit made a whirring sound. “I know I need rest, but I have a lot to think about.“ A few clicks followed. “I know nothings likely to change between now and morning.“

This was the part that always made Lewis a little sad. He hated not being able to understand his former charges.

“Arthur, this is strange, but in long run I really think it’s a good thing.” Lewis assured. “You’ll have assistants for your inventions. Protection from things when I’m not around. It’s weird, but honestly? What isn’t?”

Arthur sighed. Lewis was right. This was going to be an adjustment, but unlike the previous ones he made recently, didn’t come with the loss of something dear. The spirit whirred again. “Fine, I’ll try to get some more sleep.”

Lewis and Mystery shared a look. To a degree the bond worked both ways. And it appeared Arthur’s minion (for lack of a better term) was making sure his master took care of himself.

“We’ll see you in the morning, Artie.” Lewis backed out through the door.

“Night Lew,” Arthur yawned. He’d been exhausted, which has been what lead him to actually going to sleep at a decent hour. As he lay back down the little spirit snuggled next to him. Normally this would have put him in a bit of a panic, but right now he found it comforting.

As his eyes closed he noticed where Lewis heart logo had been, there was now a golden gear. That tickled something in the back of his mind.

“Geardeads,” he yawned. “I’m gonna call you guys Geardeads,” And with that, he was asleep.


	5. Senshi Skulls

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A bit of silliness I started after playing around with a Sailor Moon Character generator

“Just a little further Lew,” Vivi placated as the ghost lowered them down the shaft.

Two days ago a sinkhole had appeared outside the town. Since then stranger sounds had been reported from it. Scream, moans and the sound of the ocean crashing. Anyone approaching the area was over come with feelings of unease. So of course the local paranormal investigators were called in.

Rather than risk a rope that might snap on them, Vivi had decided it safer to have her boyfriend carry them down. With herself in one hand, Arthur in the other, and Mystery on his shoulder, the ghost had slowly floated straight down the hole.

So far there was nothing out of the ordinary, but Mystery had claimed he’s sensed an evil prescience. The way Arthur clung to Lewis’s should showed that he sensed it too.

Finally Lewis’s feet touched solid ground, his hair shedding purple light around the area. It looked like, well, the bottom of a sinkhole. There was dirt and debris everywhere.

“I don’t like this place,” Arthur declared, shivering slightly. He’d developed a sort of sixth sense for bad mojo and it was going off big time.

“Agreed,” Mystery stated, still in his doggy disguise. “I can sense _something,_ but I can’t quite tell what.”

“So what now?” asked the ghost, conjuring a fireball to light the area more thoroughly.

“We search for a lead.” Vivi declared. “A stone tablet, an amulet. Maybe even a body. Something that would draw paranormal activity.”

“We might find a body. Great.” Arthur rolled his eyes and started digging through the debris.

“Where should I start?’ Lewis asked.

“Actually, why don’t you stay where you are, since you’re lighting the place. We can call you closer if we find something.

“I’ve been downgraded to light bulb.” Lewis mock complained, but floated a bit upwards so the light was more evenly dispersed.

As he moved Vivi noticed a glint of something out of her eye. Not wanting to draw attention, unless she knew it was important, she went over to where she saw the glint and started brushing dirt away. “I found something!” she declared. It was hard to make out colors, but it was some kind of metal inlayed with four gems. Lewis hovered closer, allowing her to see more of the detail. Mystery and Arthur came closer as well.

“There’s definitely some writing on it. I can’t quite make out the dialect.” Vivi tried to brush some more dirt off it and froze when one of the gems began to glow blue.

“Vivi get away from it!” Mystery ordered!

“I can’t!” Vivi began to hyperventilate. “My hand won’t move!”

“What do you mean it won’t move?” Lewis demanded as Arthur tried to pull her hand loose. Unfortunately his hand brushed against the metal and another of the gems lit up yellow. And just like Vivi, that hand now refused to budge.

“This just got worse,” he squeaked.

“Maybe I can phase thought it and detach your fingers?” Lewis suggested, looking to Mystery for validation.

The kitsune studied the plate a little more. “The magic on this seems familiar, but I can’t place it.” he sighed. “You might as well try.”

But the moment Lewis’s incorporeal hand touched the plate the third gem lit up.

“This thing can even trap ghosts?” Arthur shrieked. What _was_ this anyway?

Mystery peered closely at it, allowing his full form to flow forth. Sadly the heightened perception of his kitsune form told him nothing more of the magic. He could see the inscriptions more clearly. He recognized Avalonian and Lemuiran, as well as two other dialects he wasn’t familiar with. The plate was in four pieces, but there was something odd about how they fit together.

Sadly as he was studying it, the soil slipped beneath his paws and he stumbled slightly, causing his nose to brush against the cold metal and the last gem lit up.

All of them felt a ‘click’ and before they could comprehend anything else a torrent of fetid water burst out from behind where the plate was. It flowed around them and would have completely engulfed them completely if not for the shimmering field they suddenly found themselves in.

Then almost as quickly as it appeared the water was gone, as was the forcefield and the mysterious plate.

“What…the hell…was that…” Arthur gasped, trying to get his heartbeat under control. “And did anyone …get the feeling…the water was glaring at us?”

“Some kind of prison.” Mystery concluded. “The feelings of unease were probably caused by the prisoner.”

“That we just released.” Lewis concluded grimly.

Mystery nodded.

“Well that’s a crap lock,” Vivi huffed. “Touch it and release the great evil,”

But Mystery shook his head. “It wasn’t touched by just anyone. A Mage in training. A Medium. A Wraith. And a Kitsune. The odds of four magic users randomly touching it simultaneously are rather long.”

“Not long enough, apparently,” Arthur groused, scuffing his shoe on the ground. He paused and then did it again. “Guys, the ground is dry. Completely dry.”

“The water was in all likelihood the body of the creature and as such it didn’t leave any of itself behind,.” Mystery looked at the hole in the wall. “Perhaps the inside of it’s prison could tell us more?“

“Or get us trapped.” Lewis fretted. He didn’t like things that messed with his intangibility.

Mystery sighed. “The lock is gone. The chamber couldn’t even keep a field mouse trapped.” He padded inside and looked around. It seemed to be little more than a hold in the earth. “Lewis, could you come in, I need a bit more light?”

The ghost floated inside and Vivi crawled in after him.

“This is a bad idea.” Arthur stated, before following her into the hole.

The moment his foot touched the ground everything faded. They found themselves on a glowing floor. There were five paths of light. Four lead to a throne with a figure seated on it. The fifth dropped off into nothing.

The figure in red rose. “For millennia he has been sealed. The King of Entropy. The Envoy of the Void. And now by your hand he is freed.”

Vivi was about to open her mouth when the yellow cloaked figure rose as well. “Peace, sister. They came with no malicious intent. It was our locked that was flawed, or these four could never have opened it by chance.”

“But opened it has been.” A female voice came from the blue cloaked figure and she sounded amused. “Which means something must be done. We are barely more than memories and thus can do nothing. But these four opened the lock.”

There was a moment of silence. “You can’t be serious?” said Red-cloak, aghast.

“She’s serious.” Yellow rubbed his temples. “And sadly I don’t think we have much choice. What say you, Brother?”

“What say they?” The Purple cloaked figure never left his throne. They couldn’t see his eyes, but still got the impression he was staring at them.

“We don’t say anything because we have no clue what’s going on.” Vivi said hotly. “We came here to investigate something scaring people. Your ‘lock’ trapped me when I brushed my hand against it, and now we’re here.” She crossed her arms and stared challengingly at Purple.

He laughed “Good. You have a strong spirit.”

“By the Gods, he’s considering this” Red muttered.

“We all all that remain of the Five Guardians. My companions are the Guardians of Heaven,” He gestured to Red, “Sky,” Blue, “Earth” Yellow, “and I myself am the Guardian of the Underworld. The Fifth Guardian was the Guardian of the Ocean.” He turned to stare sadly at the dark path.

“He is no Brother of ours.” Yellow said hotly.

“Indeed.” Purple’s tone was mournful. “Has has chosen to forsake his duties to follow the path of death and corruption. He will not stop until the world has fallen. He must be sealed again, if not flat out destroyed. We can no longer do this. There’s not enough of us left.”

“So you want us to?” asked Vivi cautiously.

He nodded. “We can grant you what’s left of our magic, allowing you to become the Guardians in our place. The power will shape itself to you, granting you unique magic, weapons, and armor.”

“Like a Mahou Shojou?” Lewis asked excitedly.

“Seriously?” Arthur stared at the ghost. “We may have release an ELE, some weird memory things are asking to imbue us with power - which sounds like a horrible idea, and you’re thinking of ‘ _Sailor Moon_ ’?”

Lewis had an odd feeling, as though something were caressing the inside of his skull.

“Actually, it’s a lot like that.” Purple sounded a bit disturbed. “The skirts, if chosen, need not be quite so…short.”

Blue sat forward. “Short skirts? Tell me more.”

Red began banging her cloaked head against her throne.

“How do we know, this isn’t a trap? That you say you’ll give us ‘power’, then use the conduit to possess us?” Arthur accused.

“We’d never-” Yellow sounded shocked.

“But he doesn’t know that,” Red pointed out, for once her voice not filled with disdain. “The offer of incredible power, but not one of you leaped at it. There may be more to you than we thought. But the fact of the matter is, we don’t need your permission. You broke it, you fix it.” She snapped her fingers and disappeared into a puff of red fog. Mystery yelped.

“Mystery, what happened?” Vivi ran to her oldest friend’s side.

“My magic. She changed my magic.” The kitsune sounded flabbergasted. “I don’t know how, but I can feel it.”

“Well, we had a good run. Time for the next generation.” Blue shrugged and she too vanished. Vivi suddenly understood what he meant by ‘changing his magic’. She felt something inside of her change and grow. Become more powerful.

“I won’t!” Yellow declared. “It’s not right to force a duty onto someone.”

“It’s not,” Purple agreed. “But we have just hit desperate times.” He strode down the path until he stood face to skull with Lewis.

“I have no desire to force this one you.” He said sadly. “But I will if I must. The day our brother fell, thousands died. Countless more followed in his wake. The Underworld filled father than it could accommodate. The repercussions are still present today. Please.”

Arthur was right, this could very well be a trap. But if so Vivi and Mystery had already fallen into it, and he couldn’t overpower something that could take the kitsune. And they had all felt something evil in the water.

“I accept.“ Lewis said grimly. He got the feeling Purple smiled before he too faded away.

“I won’t,” Yellow repeated, stubbornly.

Arthur looked at his friends and sighed. He didn’t like this. He really didn’t like this. “I accept too,” he sighed.

“No,” Yellow hissed. “Trickery and coercion. No one deserves to lose their choice. You won’t suffer because my brother and sisters left you with none.”

“You’re right, they didn’t.” Arthur snapped. “Because theses guys are _my_ brothers and sister. And I won’t let them march into Hell without me!”

“Arthur,” Vivi gave him a small hug, and Lewis put a large hand on his shoulder.

Yellow gave a choked sob. “Very well. If…If the situation had been different, and you had come willingly? I think I would have chosen you above all other.” He bowed and faded away, as did the room. The four found themselves back in the earthen prison.

“Did that actually just happen?” Lewis asked.

“It did.” Mystery confirmed. “I can feel the change in my magic.” he shuddered.

“What’s that by your paw?” Vivi asked, noticing a shimmer by the light of Lewis’s hair.

“My paw?” Mystery examined himself ans found a small gem embedded just above his dewclaw. “That’s odd.”

“Where did it come from?” Vivi wondered. “Is it linked to the Guardians?”

“I’m guess so,” Arthur answered, pulling back his wristband. “Because I’ve got a rock in my wrist too.”

Vivi pulled back her sweater and Lewis his jacket cuff. Both had a jewel embedded in it.

Vivi sighed heatedly. “Let’s just get out of here, guys. We can figure this out somewhere with daylight.

The rest of the Skulls eagerly agreed.

~

The fetid water burst into the briny sea and spread itself thin, as though stretching. Too Long. It had been far too long.

It rose up out of the water and took on a more human appearance. Yes, far too long. He let his power scrape the bottom of the sea. It was time to remind humanity what he really was.


	6. Omiai

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Like with Corazon, this was written before a lot of information about Vivi was released, like her family. All we knew that she was 'mostly Japanese', so while this doesn't quite jive with what we know now, it just means it's a little more AU

“Please repeat that,” Vivi hissed through clenched teeth. “I _know_ I didn’t hear you right.”

“We’ve arranged an omiai for you,” Her mother stated, as though it wasn’t a complete and utter betrayal.

“Mother, in case you haven’t noticed, I’m already _in_ a relationship. A good one. I’m not in danger of being a Christmas Cake. Not to mention this is the twenty first century, and America to boot!”

Her mother gave her a look, though it rolled off Vivi’s outrage. “Vivian this boy’s family made an honest offer of meeting, feeling you would be very good for their son. How do you think it would make the poor boy feel if you refused to so much as meet him?”

Seriously? She was playing the guilt card so early? And effectively too. After all, the poor guy was probably in the same situation she was, with overly interfering parents. Did he have a girlfriend as well, one perhaps his parents didn’t approve of? “I’m going to turn him down though.”

Her mother nodded. “That’s your right. All I ask is you give him a chance, or at the very least tell him to his face,”

“Fine.” Vivi growled.

~

“An arranged marriage?! How could she do this to me? It’s got to be illegal or something.” Vivi fumed, pacing back and forth. “And _why aren’t you two as upset as I am_?”

“Because you’re allowed to say no and that will be the end of that.” Arthur said calmly. “It really bites that that got sprung on you, but it’s your decision. So the only thing they’re really doing is forcing you to eat lunch with some guy.”

“And I know better than anyone else that no one can force you into something you don’t want.” Lewis scooped her up and kissed her.

“They’re forcing me to go,” She muttered, though she relaxed in his arms.

“And the only reason that’s working is because you’re allowed to say no at the end.” Lewis insisted. “If they were saying you had to marry the guy, we’d be halfway to Alaska by now. ”

“Alaska’s too cold,” Vivi insisted, the grin creeping back on her face. Both at the vote of confidence and the fact that it never even occurred to Lewis not to come with her. "Louisiana, now there’s a place with some good ghosts.“

"And people who know how to add spice. Louisiana it is.” Lewis agreed.

“Hey, don’t I get a say?” Arthur nudged Lewis with his elbow. “No way I’m leaving you two by yourselves. I shudder to think of what trouble you’d get into.”

“Myself as well, for mostly the same reason.” Mystery added.

Vivi’s grin was from ear to ear. “Thanks guys. I love you so much.”

“And look on the bright side, omiai’s are supposed to take place are really nice restaurants, right?” Arthur pointed out. “At least you’ll get a good meal out of this.”

~

The support of her friends kept her spirits up, but Vivi felt her resentment growing once more the day of the omiai as her mother dressed her up (in her opinion) like a doll. Powder-blue kimono with wisteria print, fancy make-up, not a hair was out of place (though her mother did bemoan her short hair and how it limited what she could do with it. That tempted Vivi to cut it even shorter).

She hated every moment of being dolled up, every moment of what she felt was restrictive clothing. At this point, she wasn’t even sure the food would be worth it.

“We’ve arranged for two private rooms. You and he will have one, his parents and I are in the room next to it.” Her mother explained. “Please behave yourself.”

“I make no promises.” Vivi growled. Then took a deep breath. “But I won’t take my frustrations out on him.” Both sets of parents were fair game, but she decided not to mention that.

Her mother gave her one last look over before patting her on the back. “Good Luck,” she said, before disappearing into the first room with her father.

Vivi took a few more breaths, just to make _sure_ she didn’t start breathing fire at the guy. Head level (ish), she opened the door and took her first look at the man her parents wanted her to marry.

She felt her heart and mind both freeze as she saw him. “L-Lewis? What are you doing here?”

He grinned at her sheepishly, on hand going to the back of his neck. He was wearing a purple montsuki kimono and a black hakama. She could see an image of a light blue butterfly where the family crest would be. “Waiting for the girl I’m having an omiai with.”

“What…I…You….” Vivi mouth opened and closed a few times. She struggled to reboot her brain. “I need to sit down.”

Lewis stood up, gentleman he was, and escorted her to her chair. “So you’re telling me this was _your_ doing?”

“Guilty as charged,” he laughed nervously.

“But… _why_? Why do all this? You’re not even Japanese. We’re dating already.”

“I know, but I wanted…” Lewis looked like he was steeling himself up for something. “Well, omiai’s aren’t really about finding a dating pool.”

“No, they’re about arranging-” The words stuck in Vivi’s throat. “Lewis are you-”

He sunk down on one knee. In his hand was suddenly a small box. “Vivi, would you marry me?”

  
This was almost one shock too many. But she already knew her answer. “ ** _YES_**!” She bypassed the ring entirely, jumping straight into his arms. “ _Yes_ , you big stupid idiot.” She was laughing and crying as she kissed him again and again. And he was laughing too, deep down still afraid she’d say no.

By the time they’d calmed down, Vivi had almost forgotten the ring until Lewis slipped it on her finger, It was beautiful, a small diamond with an amethyst and sapphire on either side, forming a heart around it. “It’s beautiful Lew,” She breathed. It even went with her outfit, the stone’s matching the colors in her kimono…and Lewis’s. How had she not noticed they were wearing the same colors inverted?

“I can’t take full credit. Arthur helped with the design.” Lewis admitted.

“Arthur was in on this?”

“Yeah, I was afraid he was going to give it away when he didn’t need you to explain what an omiai was,” Lewis admitted.

Vivi facepalmed, smudging some of her makeup. “I never even picked up on that. So what gave you the idea for this anyway?”

“Well I was trying to find a way to pop the question. I asked Mystery about some Japanese traditions and he-”

“Mystery too? Was everyone in on this?”

“Of course,” he kissed her cheek. “Fooling you would take the combined skill of everyone, after all.”

“Hardly,” Vivi admitted. “The moment I heard omiai, I stopped thinking straight.”

“That helped,” Lewis conceded. “And, like an actual omiai, you’re free to say no.”

“I said yes and I meant it.” She smacked him playfully.“But you put me through a lot of stress this weekend, and I thoroughly expect you to make it up to me.”

“I will,” Lewis promised. “Every day of my life.”

~

“Something amusing you?” Mrs. Chef Pepper asked the woman sitting across from her.

“Just thinking about how adamant Vivi was that she was going to refuse.” She said. “Just goes to show I may be boring and old-fashioned. But sometimes Kaasan still knows what she’s doing.” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just for it to be clear, as one person pointed out, Vivi said yes despite how Lewis asked her, not because of it


	7. Ficbits

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Little bits of a story based off a meme challenge

No matter how rambunctious she was as a child, no matter what tree she fell out of, or what wild cat she picked up, Vivi never got a single scar. It was mostly attributed to a child’s resilience and not thought much of. Nor was it thought much of that her faithful dog was always right by her side whenever she got injured.

Even as an adult, Mystery could protect her from having any physical scars. The emotional ones, he couldn’t do anything for.

* * *

Mystery knew he was never really safe. He’d made too many enemies that were more than capable of tracking him down given time. He’d made even more protecting the children. It was obvious he was safer on his own.

And yet…

On days like today. Warm summer days with the four of them sprawled in the grass, himself draped over Vivi while Lewis scratched his tail and Arthur behind his ears, he felt the safest he’d ever been.

* * *

To watch Vivi and Lewis, one would think Love was a loud boisterous thing. But to Arthur, Love was quiet.

Love was remembering he hated red onions and thus him never finding one in his food. Love was being tagged online because someone found a joke and knew he’d love it. Love was being told to go home early, because even if he hadn’t said anything, because Lance could tell he wasn’t feeling great.

To Arthur, Love was knowing him inside and out, remembering all the little things. It meant more to him that any showy declaration. It was being thought of, even when he wasn’t there. It was quiet, but precious, and he wouldn’t trade it for anything.

* * *


	8. Roll of the Dice part 1 (Jumanji AU)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Warning: Vivi uses some language

“We should not be here Vi,” Arthur shuddered as they approached the house. The old manor house was in perfect condition, despite having been abandoned for as long as anyone could remember (Even old Mrs. McGillicudy). The boards it was made up of were black, but didn’t seem to be painted. The whole property seemed to have an aura of menace.

“Come on, Art,” Vivi was fast approaching the house, her dog at her heels. “We’ve explored every other abandoned place in Tempo.”

“And you know what those placed have is common? _Not_ being the one place on Earth Uncle Lance made me swear never to come to. This places _scares_ him, and you know nothing scares Uncle Lance!”

“It’s a cultural thing.” Vivi waved the concern off. “He grew up with the horror stories about this place; it’s embedded into him.” She climbed up the stairs and opened the door with a load creak.

“This is a bad idea,” Arthur stated, following her in. As he passed the threshold the door slammed shut. “BAD IDEA! BAD IDEA!”

“ _Kingsssssmeeeeeen_ ,” a voice hissed throughout the house

With a yelp Arthur turned and grabbed the handle to the door. Vivi’s hands soon joined his in trying to open it. Haunted houses she may be up for, but not ones that specifically targeted her friends. Mystery’s barking increased as a too large hand grabbed Arthur and pulled him away. Suddenly he found himself face to fiery skull with the thing that grabbed him.

“ _You’ve grown, Kingsmen. In height if not in courage_.”

“Let him go!” Vivi flung herself at the figure, but he placed another large hand on her head, effortlessly keeping her away.

“ _Go home, girl. He doesn’t deserve your loyalty_.”

“Bull-Fucking-Shit!” Vivi continued flailing at him while Mystery tried nipping his heels.

“ _You have fire in your soul,_ ” Was it her imagination, or did it’s unholy gaze soften when it looked at her. “ _What happens here need not concern you. You and the dog may leave._ ”

“Not without him,” She snarled.  
  


“ _So be it,_ ” The ghost(?) turned and began dragged Arthur into what looked like an old living room. The room was lit with purple flames illuminating some chairs, a sofa, and a coffee table on which a game board was spread out.

It looked like a normal board game, at least. A lane of spaces that looped around the board decorated with a spooky horror theme, which lead to the crystal ball in the middle. There were two figure already on the board, an orange one and a purple one.

“ _Roll_ ,” The ghost shoved two six sided dice in Arthur’s hands.

“Y-You want me to play the game?” Arthur asked in slight disbelief.

“ _I want you to take whatever the game gives you._ ” The fire in the ghost’s eyes flared.

“O-Okay,” Playing a game wasn’t so bad, right?

“I don’t know, I’m not too keen on doing anything he tells you to do.” Vivi glared at his captor. She’d given up her flailing for now, since it wasn’t getting her anywhere, but the moment she found a way to get Arthur away from that ghost, she was taking it.

“ _He’s not leaving until he does. Take. Your. Turn._ ”

“Vi, if playing a game will get us out of here faster, I’m all for it.” Arthur dropped the dice on the board. A yellow figurine appeared on the starting area and moved forwards. The ghosts gasped and let go of Arthur, collapsing on the couch.

Vivi didn’t hesitate and grabbed Arthur, pulling him to the door. When the turned the doorknob it opened easily, revealing only a dense white fog that could barely be seen through. “Arthur, we’re not close enough to any body of water for this much fog, are we?”

“No, we are not.”

“That settles it,” Vivi turned on her heels and marched back into the living room. “Why are you doing this? Why won’t you let us leave?”

The ghost had been sitting on the couch, staring at the ceiling. At the sound of her voice, the skull whipped around, once more locking on Arthur “ _What’s your name, who are your parents?_ ”

“Arthur Kingsmen, my parents were Percival and Dora Kingsmen,” he yelped.

“ _Percy?_ ” The ghost whispered, then collapsed on the sofa again. His appearance flickered and faded into a more human looking form. The ominous black suit was replaced with a white shirt with purple vest and slacks, the shiny shoes with sneakers. His hair still glowed, though, and his eyes looked no more human that they had before.

“How long has it been?” The strange echoed quality of his voice had almost disappeared. “More than a decade. More than two decades? Wait, ‘were’?”

“They died in a car crash when I was five.” Arthur averted his eyes.

“I’m sorry.” It didn’t sound like the canned ‘I’m sorry’ he got from everyone else. It sounded…genuine.

“If you’re really sorry, then how about getting rid of that fog you’ve got us trapped here in?” Vivi crossed her arms and glared.

“That…isn’t me,” The ghost gestured again to the board game. Now the Crystal ball was lit, with words floating in it

**IT’S A BAD DAY FOR A JOG**

**DON’T GET LOST IN THE ENDLESS FOG**

“So whatever happens in the game, happens in life? And you forced Arthur to play it.” Vivi grabbed first thing she could from the table and chucked it at him. The dice passed through the ghost and ricocheted off the couch, landing on a one and a three.

“No!” The ghost gasped as a blue figure appeared and moved four spaces. New words appeared in the ball

**A DOG CAN’T DO WITTY REPARTEE**

**YOU’RE BETTER OFF WITH A KITSUNE**

As the words formed, Mystery began to whimpers, then grow until he stood as tall and Vivi or Arthur, six tails flowing where once was one.

“Well, this is certainly new.” Mystery turned around, examining himself.

Vivi grabbed the ghost and this time her hands connected. “Turn him back NOW!”

“I can’t!” cried the ghost. “I can’t control the game! I’ve been scaring people away to keep them from getting trapped by it too. I thought Arthur was the other player, I swear!”

“Actually, I find this far preferable. Now I can get treats without requiring aid.” Mystery dug his head under her arm. Vivi released her grip on the ghost and held her beloved companion. “We’ll be fine, Vivi. I promise I won’t let anything hurt you.”

“I’m not worried about things hurting _me_.” She muttered, burying herself in his fur.

“I know. That’s why you are a good pack leader. And it is because of that I know we’ll figure this ‘game’ out.” Mystery said confidently.

Arthur circled around the much larger canine, so he was close enough to talk to the ghost without being in grabbing distance. “You called my dad ‘Percy’, did you-?”

“Know him? Yeah. We went to highschool together, well, fora year, since he was three years older than me.” He shuddered. “Time doesn’t seem to mean much to me anymore. I didn’t realize it had been a year, much less…so many of them.”

Despite how hostile it had been, Arthur was beginning to feel some sympathy for the ghost. Now that he wasn’t so angry, he just seemed so lost.

“AHA That’s why you wanted Artie to play!” Vivi’s exclamation got the attention of the other two. “It says in the instructions that all effects last until someone reached the center of the board and wins the game. Which means if someone wins, all the magic goes away.”

“What!” The ghost shot upwards “Everything goes back to normal if someone wins?”

“You didn’t know that?” Vivi’s tone flattened again. “Then why did you want Artie to play?”

“I didn’t even know there were instructions. I was abandoned here while _he_ got to escape and live his life. Apparently for about two decades. _He_ was the one who wanted to come here. _He_ was the one who wanted to play the game we found in the attic. But he got to live on and I was left _alone_.” The ghost’s hair flared a bit as tears gathered in his eyes. “It wasn’t _fair_.”

“Nor was you forcing Arthur into this, mistake or not. But we’re in this and we have to finish it.” Vivi scooped the dice off the floor and handed them to the ghost. “It’s your turn.”

He shook his head. “No it isn’t. My turn was the last one before he fled, we need the other player. My so-called ‘best friend’ who brought me here and abandoned me to my death.” He glared at the orange playing piece on the board.

“We Need Lance Kingsmen.”


	9. Roll of the Dice Part 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Warning: Non-Canon death of a character that canonically dies

(26 years ago)

“Geeze, Lance, People weren’t kidding when they said this place looked creepy,” Lewis swung his flashlight around the attic.

“Been abandoned as long as anyone can tell,” the shorter fourteen year old commented. “No one ever comes here so, it’s you know…”

A good place to hide. A place he could be where no phone call could force him to go ‘home’. Lewis had been in a few group foster homes in his time, but the one in Tempo was one of the worst. Locks on the fridge, locks on the cupboards. Personal belongings were confiscated, and only given back as ‘rewards’ - or given to other children to reward them.

The one bright spot for Lewis was he had a really good friend. No one had listened to Lance’s complaints any more than his own. (“If it was that bad, someone would have done something, dear.”) but Lance believed him and did what he could to help. Lewis had behaved well enough to get his few personal effects back, then kept them in a backpack that went home with Lance every night so they couldn’t be taken away.

Ms. Rubenseitz was furious when she discovered she’d lost that bit of power over him, (Lance of course denied the backpack existed when asked) and made up for it by severely limiting his time out of her sight. No matter where they went, is was soon followed by a phone call demanding he returned home.

So here they were, in a place with no phone, where no one would find him to pass on the message. Oh, he had no illusions both he and Lance would be in trouble when they went back. But for now, they were safe.

“It’s weird, isn’t it. There isn’t even dust on the floor.” And it was the attic, the place where even lived-in homes had dust.

“If we find weird cult symbols in blood, we’re out. Until then, we assume it’s good.” Lance continued, starting suddenly when he heard what sounded like ominous piano music. Turning towards the noise, Lance tripped. “Not a word, Lew. Not one word.” As he began to pick himself up, he noticed the corner of something sticking out from a sheet. “Hello, what do we have here?” He pulled the piece of carved wood clear to examine it.

“What do you have there?” Lewis’s flashlight entered the living room.  
  


“Looks like some kind of board game.” The word Multeefecte was carved onto the front in large Gothic letters, monsters adorning each corner. “Wanna play?”

“You want to play a random board game we found in the attic of a supposedly abandoned house?” Lewis arched an eyebrow.

“Why not, it’s something to do, isn’t it.” He picked up the wooden box the game was in.

“Fine, but at least let’s go downstairs where they had chairs and tables.”

“Good idea,” They headed down to the living room. Lance opened the box which contained a board with a crystal ball at the center. He opened a flap in the case, but there was only two dice inside. “Guess the pieces go lost, oh well.” He dropped the dice on the board, where they rolled an eight.

“Lance look!” The light of Lewis’s flashlight revealed an orange figurine rising from the starting position.

“Must be magnets. I’d love to see what the inner workings are.” Between the sound effects and the pieces it must have a bunch of fascinating mechanisms. Lance was even more pleased when the crystal ball lit up and words appeared.

**THESE FLYING RODENTS ARE QUITE RUDE**

**ANYTHING WITH A PULSE IS THEIR FOOD**

“That sounds…ominous.”

“It’s a horror-themed game, of course it is. Your turn.”

“Lance I really don’t know. This is creeping me out. And I think I hear something in the chimney.” Lewis worriedly shined the light where he thought he heard high pitched noise.

“Just squirrels, everyone has them.” Lance passed the dice to Lewis who rolled his eyes.

“Fine.” Keeping his eye on the chimney, Lewis rolled a seven. A purple figurine appeared and moved

**NOT EVEN DEATH IS AN ESCAPE**

**FOREVER YOU DWELL IN A WRATH’S SHAPE**

“Okay, that does sound ba-”

“Lance, I don’t feel so well.” Lewis’s voice was faint, Lance could barely hear him. “I want to go home.”

With those words, all thoughts of cajoling him to stay were gone. “It’s okay, Lew. We’ll head back.”

“I can’t breathe.” Lewis collapsed to the floor, gasped shallowly. “Help.”

“LEWIS!” Lance ran over to him an unbuttoned his vest and undid his ascot, but nothing seemed to help. “Lewis stay with me.”

“Can’t…see.” he gasped. “Lance…scared.”

“This is scary, but you’ll be fine, you’ll see, everything will be fine.”

Lewis let out a rattled gasp and ceased to answer. Ceased to breath. His eyes unfocused and became glassy.

Lewis was dead.

“No No **NO** ,” This wasn’t happening. This couldn’t be happening. Lew couldn’t be dead. Not just like that. Not for no reason. “Lewis wake up!” He shook the body but it remained silent.

Focused as he was, he didn’t know notice the noise in the chimney getting louder and louder. Not until an entire colony of bats burst forth, biting at Lance then latching on and drinking the blood they drew. Lance tried to knock them away from Lewis, only to notice they had no interest in him.

_Anything with a pulse in their food._ Lewis really was dead, wasn’t he? And if he died here too, Percy or Mom and Dad might come looking for him. He had to get out. He had to tell someone what had happened. Bleeding from multiple places now, Lance made a break for the door, the bats following him, but many of them breaking off once outside to find easier prey.

There was no sound in the house, not until a timid voice called out “Lance?” 

Lewis blinked as he pushed himself up, only to find the room empty. “Lance where did you go?” Lewis picked up the flashlight where he had dropped it and scanned around the room. There was the board game, the sofa, and - Lewis screamed as he saw the dead body. _His_ dead body. He backed away in shock, only to have his sight occluded when he backed _through_ a wall.

With a yelp he fled. Dropping the flashlight he ran through the open front door and out of the house. He hadn’t gotten very far when he felt something yank him back. He tried again, pulling with everything he had to escape the house, but couldn’t make any headway.

“It’s okay, Lewis,” he told himself. “Lance will be back soon with an ambulance or something and we can get this straightened out, right? They’ll be able to fix me.”

And he waited. He wasn’t sure how long. He explored the house to distract himself. He studied every nook and cranny from attic to basement. Still, nobody came. The room he felt himself pulled to the most was the living room. As a result he’d moved his body down to the basement (Something he did his best to NOT THINK ABOUT afterwards).

It wasn’t until some other kids had tried to explore the place that he had realized the truth, realized Lance _wasn’t coming back_. That realization damn near broke him. But he had to keep himself together. What if the newcomers found the game and tried to play?

Scaring them (and anyone else who came) off gave him a purpose. It helped keep him together. But when they were gone he couldn’t help but dwell on the fact that Lance abandoned him. Had gotten to escape while Lewis’s life had ended.

He wasn’t sure how long it had been before he’d gone to stop another couple of explorers and one of the was Lance! He’d grown quite a bit (must have finally gotten that growth spurt he always claimed to be on the verge of), but Lewis would know that hair and those eyes anywhere (Even if the goatee was a bit more Percy’s style. Percy hated having his hair long, though). Seeing how much Lance had grown, how much time Lance _had_ to grow, set a fire in him. There was some burning satisfaction that Lewis was still taller than him, ever without that time.

The girl (Who was she? Lewis had never seen her before.) was leading the way while Lance tried to get them to go back. Was he trying to spare her, or cover up what had happened before? Either way it didn’t matter. Lance wasn’t getting away scott free anymore. He’d roll the dice and have to deal with it, just like Lewis had. The cute girl and her dog shouldn’t get involved.

Then everything went wrong. Lance rolled the dice, but a new piece was put on the board. Why unless…horror gripped what would have been Lewis’s heart as he realized _t_ _his might not be Lance_. The Kingsmen had a very strong family resemblance on their father’s side; what if he had grabbed a cousin or something? Someone visiting and not realizing what had happened in this house.

He had not only **not** prevented an innocent from getting involved, he had forced them to play.

The girl came back (When had she left?) and started yelling at him, demanding answers. She deserved them, but he need one of his own first. “What’s your name? Who are your parents?” He did know some of Lance’s Aunts and Uncles, after all.

If the first name was a horrifying confirmation, the second answer floored him. “Percy?” This was Percy’s kid? Surely it hadn’t been that long? But that tall scrawny build reminded him of Dorene alright. In fact he was a perfect mix of Doreen and Percy.

His anger at just how long he’d been abandoned warred with his guilt over having gotten an innocent involved. Guilt won upon the discovery that not only was Percy dead, but the person -Arthur- was apparently an orphan, just like himself. This was so _wrong_ , on all accounts. How could he have messed up this badly?

The girl’s (understandable) lashing out made things worse, since she grabbed the dice to throw at him and now she was a player too.

He didn’t want to admit how foolish he felt for not looking at the instructions, especially considering how much time he’d spent in the same room as the game. He just hadn’t wanted to look at it or think about it. He was even less willing to touch it than that thing he was certainly _not thinking about_. But honestly it wouldn’t have done him any good. He’d need Lance to play, and Lance wasn’t coming back.

“Then we’ll bring the game to him,” Vivi said, closing the wooden box when Lewis brought up that objection. As much as she hated to admit it, the ghost was right about that. Lance was scared of this place. He certainly wouldn’t come because a ghost wanted to play a cursed board game.

“Except I couldn’t go with you,” Lewis crossed his arms a little more sulkily than he would have liked. “I’ve tried, I can’t get very far from the house.”

Vivi pinched her nose. “Fine, come with us as far as you can, so we know where that is. We’ll have a better chance of bringing Lance there than all the way to the house.”

“Should we?” Arthur looked at the ghost with a mixture of apology and mistrust. “I’m sorry, but you’ve made it clear you hate my Uncle. Lance is the only family I have left. He took me in when my parents died, and I won’t repay that by luring him to someone who wants to hurt him.

Lewis felt like screaming. Not when he had finally found a way out. But as much as he wanted Lance punished, he knew he owed Arthur for how he acted and getting him involved with the game. And if Arthur had no other family… No, not even revenge on Lance Kingsmen would make him condemn someone to Ms. Rubenseitz. Especially not someone he already owed a debt to.

“I won’t promise to treat him with any kindness, but I won’t attack him either. All I wanted for him to do was play that game and we’re making him do that anyway. I want this over as much as you do. If the game ends, I might be able to move on from here.” In the back of his mind there was the teasing hope, but he couldn’t let himself cling to it. The best he would let himself hope for it that he could rest in peace.

The disapproval on Vivi’s face cracked, ever so slightly. She didn’t want to feel sympathy for this ghost. But she’d dreamed of being a paranormal investigator and helping ghosts move on. And if he really was being kept by a curse, how could she not try to dispel it.

Arthur looked at the front door. “I still don’t like the idea of Lance getting involved. But if that fog is really everlasting, it could cause who knows how many accidents.” He sighed, “Let’s go.”

“Hold on, I want to get something.” Lewis floated to the cabinet under the staircase and pulled out a now worn purple backpack. At least he’d have his stuff while he waited for Lance. “Now we can go.”

Vivi carried the game, Mystery by her side. Lewis floated after them a little ways back. At least until Arthur pulled a device out of his pocket and started pressing buttons.

“What’s that?” Lewis asked, unable to restrain his curiosity at something _new_.

“My phone?”

“That’s a phone? How does it work without being plugged in? Why is it so small?”

“It doesn’t need to be charged - oh right, I guess cell phones weren’t a thing when Dad was in High School. It connects like WiFi, no wait, that wasn’t a thing either. Okay.” Arthur thought for a moment. “So you know how remote control cars use a signal from the controller? Cell Phones can use signals like that to connect to large towers, which are connects to phone lines, so you can make a call from anywhere as long as you have a signal. As the technology got better, we started being able to access more and more. Like this program shows our location over a map of the roads in the area, so we can make our way back even if the fog keeps us from seeing too far in front of us.”

“Wow,” Lewis whispered. That was like something straight out of Star Trek. “And what’s that?” he pointed to the image of what looked like a dog with tiger stripes standing off the side of the road.

“That’s, er, a Growlithe.” Arthur seemed a little embarrassed to answer that.

“Pokemon Go? You’re seriously navigating our way out with Pokemon Go?” Vivi chuckled.

“Come on Vi, the maps are just as good and those eggs aren’t going to hatch themselves.”

“Eggs?” By now Lewis was completely baffled.

Arthur tried to explain the game to him, the girl (Vi, he supposed) finding it hilarious.

“Okay, how far are we from your stopping point.” Vivi hated to interrupt, but she didn’t want the ghost smacking into a wall of something. Out of the house and away from the topic of Lance, he acted perfectly normal, if you could ignore the floating. Arthur even looked like he was having fun explaining the cell phone and Pokemon to him.

Lewis looked up and tried to get his bearing in the fog. It was hard to see, but still- “We’ve passed it. I’ve never been able to go out so far before. Maybe, do you think the game is letting me go further since it’s going to be played?”

“Possibly,” The two living humans jumped, not used to Mystery being able to speak. “But I think there’s a far more likely solution. You always assumed you were bound to the house. What if it was more to something in the house?” He glanced meaningfully at the wooden box in Vivi’s hands.

The game. The game that had killed him. The game that was the centerpiece of the one room he felt most compelled to be in.

“You mean if I had just picked up the game _I could have left anytime?!_ ”

“It’s only a theory,” Mystery said with the certainty of knowing it was more than a theory, but not wanting to set off the ghost.

Lewis took a few unnecessary breaths. No, this was probably for the best. If he’d known he could leave he might have taken revenge on Lance, and he needed Lance to set him free by playing the game.

“At least we don’t have to come back after we find Lance,” Or ever. “So seriously, what’s so special about Pikachu?”


	10. Roll of the Dice Part 3

Lewis was somewhat grateful for the thick fog that now clung to Tempo (and dearly hoped it didn’t extend too far beyond.) Even with the combined light from Arthur and Vivi’s phones, plus, well, _him_ , he could barely see a few feet in front of him. And that kept him from seeing how much his home had changed.

It must have. Arthur spoke of so many amazing things, and with the phones as hard proof, Lewis believed it. He felt as though he was Marty McFly in the second Back to the Future. But there was no Delorean that would safely bring him back to 1990. Unlike the movie, time only moved in one direction, even if the flow had stopped for him personally.

And for some reason, that scared him. He hadn’t let himself be scared back in the house, not once he realized Lance wasn’t coming back and let the anger take him. But with the anger, well -not _gone,_ but shoved to the side, the fear was coming back. Somehow facing the outside world made everything real in a way it hadn’t been before.

He’d much rather focus on the video games Arthur was describing. They sounded like fun, but he couldn’t help peering into the fog and trying to make out the shapes of buildings. The only thing he could see, however, was the shape of Vivi’s ‘dog’ and he circled them. He knew he was trying to keep them safe, but he still reminded Lewis of nothing more than a four legged shark.

“It’s really quiet, isn’t it?” He commented softly.

“It’s probably because of the fog,” Vivi explained. “It’s not normal or safe. People are probably staying where they are and waiting for driving conditions to improve.”

“That makes sense,” Lewis admitted. Still, it felt almost like Tempo didn’t exist around them. Like they were lost in a dream.

“Silent Hill enough for you, Vi?” Arthur commented.

“Yeah, a bit. It’s kind of exciting,” Vivi admitted. “As long as we don’t hear any sirens,”

“I don’t know of any hills around here, just cliffs. Or am I remembering wrong?” Lewis asked quietly. He hoped he wasn’t. He didn’t want to know if his memories had degraded during his time in the house.

“No, you’re right. Silent Hill is another video game. It’s about a cursed town that’s always full of fog.” Arthur explained.

“Oh,” Well that did seem appropriate. He wondered what happened in the game. Nah, best not to find out til after the fog was gone. If there was an after for him.

Vivi checked the map. “Okay, we’re close to where Lance works. I want to remind you, you’re **not** going to hurt him.”

“I told you I wasn’t-”

“The fact that you clenched your fists when I mentioned his name might indicate otherwise.” Vivi said dryly.

Lewis started to take a deep breath, before remembering he didn’t breathe anymore. This didn’t put him in a better mood at all. “I hate Lance. I’m not trying to hide that fact.” He did feel a little bad about Arthur’s wince at that statement. “But the truth of the matter is unless I want to be trapped to _that_ ,” he pointed at the game, “for the rest of eternity, I need Lance to play. I won’t be nice to him, but I’m not going to hurt him either.”

Arthur still wasn’t really happy with this answer. The ghost seemed like a pretty nice guy unless the subject of his uncle came up. He didn’t know what happened between them, he couldn’t imagine Uncle Lance abandoning someone to die, but they needed to finish the game. And for that the ghost and Uncle Lance needed to be together.

No matter how much he told himself it was necessary, Arthur still felt guilty as he slid his key into the lock. Normally the garage would be open at this point, Uncle Lance must have closed early because of the fog. After all, they’d do no one any good if their tow truck got in an accident.

“Uncle Lance, are you here?”

“Arthur? What are you doing out in this weather?’ Lance’s voice echoed from the break room.

“It’s a really long story.” As much as he didn’t want to tell it. “It kind of involves a board game, and, well, apparently someone you know.”

“Someone I know? A board game?” Lance came out in confusion, only to drop his coffee mug when he saw the tall figure standing behind.

“ ** _Lance_** ,” Lewis fit as much poison and vitriol into the word as he could, h is hair flaming as he said the name.

“L-Lewis?” Lance stuttered, unable to believe what he was seeing. His old friend standing there, not looking a day older, but far from unchanged. He almost didn’t notice the giant canine, though from the way Vivi had a hand on it’s flank, it wasn’t a threat.

“Your name is Lewis?” Vivi asked.

“ ** _Yes, so what?!_** ”

“Well you never exactly introduced yourself, you know.” She pointed out, opening the wooden case on the work table. “Let’s keep it short. The board game is cursed. You and Lewis started playing it and he died. Arthur and I got suckered into playing it and now there’s an impenetrable fog covering Tempo. The only way to make the effects of the game go away if for someone to win. So I don’t know what happened between you two in the past, but the four of us are going to sit down and finish the game, so we can all go on with our lives or deaths as the case may be.”

Lance’s eyes kept darting between the board game, one he had been told so many times didn’t exist ( _couldn’t_ exist) and the person he’d once called best friend. “It’s real?”

“ _Yes, it must be easier to deny when you’re not forced to **look at your own dead body!**_ ”

“Enough!” Vivi snapped, causing Lewis to pull back in a huff. He turned his head and caught a glimpse of Arthur, his own head tucked down like Lance’s did when he was feeling guilty.

Dammit. The last thing Lewis wanted was to feel guilty for taking out some of his (well-deserved) anger out on Lance. He wasn’t the bad guy here, after all. “ _ **Just Roll**_ ,”

Lance stared at the game, at the four figures on the colorful path. “No, not yet.”

Lewis’s hair and eyes flared. “ _ **Not yet?! You’ve had 26 years!**_ ”

“And it’s my child and Vivi at risk if things go wrong.” Lance grumbled walking out to the other room. There was the sound of rummaging and he came back with an armload of random items. He handed Vivi a bat, Arthur a bow and quiver, and after a moment’s hesitation a small handaxe to Lewis.

“Keep it.” The ghosts voice had once again became less powerful, but no less filled with disdain. “I’ll be fine.” He clenched his hand, purple flames erupted from it.

“I haven’t seen this since summer camp,” Arthur adjusted the string on the bow, making sure it was taunt.

“If that game is real, what comes out of there is dangerous. I’m not facing it unprepared a second time.” If he had it his way, Vivi and Arthur would be nowhere near there. But if they were already on the board… he remembered how the game called to him. Played the music which lead him to it.

Lewis had died. Mystery was changed (There was no doubting that giant thing was him, with the way Arthur wasn’t reacting and it and Vivi were joined at the hip. Not to mention it’s- _his_ fur was the same color).

It was hard for him to believe the game was real. Not when he’d been told - _forced_ to believe - otherwise. And his first impulse was to burn it, so it could never harm another. But he’d listened to Vivi’s enthusiastic talked of magic with Arthur. Destroying something like would cause serious backlash, especially to any connected by it. If he was the last living human connected to it, that would be one thing. But he couldn’t risk Arthur.

Not that the games wasn’t already putting Arthur at risk.

Gripping his own wrench, a large heavy one, Lance picked up the dice and rolled. The dice clattered and the orange figure moved.

**SHE FOLLOWS THE LEAD OF**

**ROSES, DAISIES AND MUMS**

**YOU CANNOT ESCAPE**

**THE WHITE FOREST COMES**

“And Tempo’s now a forest,” Arthur moaned, shaking his head.

“I don’t think so,” Mystery’s fur bristled and Lance jumped at the sound of the Kitsune talking. “I don’t know why, but I feel extremely unsettled by that.”

“That’s interesting.” Vivi leaned back into a thinking position. “I was assuming you wouldn’t have any knowledge you didn’t before, but if that was the case, you wouldn’t know how to talk, even if you were capable. It’s possible the game gave you more information on the things it creates.”

“I’m not sure, I felt fear at the words ‘White Forest’, but no reason why.”

“So the dog talks too?” Lance asked.

“He does, at least while the game is going.” Vivi cheerfully scratched Mystery behind the ears, Mystery rewarded that with a lick.

“For all his concern, we don’t seem to be being attacked,” Lewis grumbled. Twice. Twice Lance had rolled, and twice nothing had happened. What kind of damn luck did the traitor have?

“For _now_ ,” Mystery’s tone was still ominous. “Lewis, I believe it’s your turn?”

Wordlessly the ghost grabbed the dice and dropped them on the game. He was dead, after all. What more could it do?”

**TWISTS OR TURNS OR BREAKS OR BEND**

**THIS MAGIC ANY WOUND WILL MEND**

A small talisman appeared above the crystal ball, floating invitingly.“Are…. **ARE YOU KIDDING ME**!” Lewis’s hair went full bonfire.

“So the game can give things that are helpful, like what it did to Mystery. That wasn’t just a fluke.” Vivi muttered.

_“Helpful, oh **very** helpful. **Except to the person who was killed by magic, so there’s no wounds to heal!**_ ” Was the game rubbing it in his face? Taunting him?

He took the talisman out of the air. “Just roll,” he said to Arthur, though with far less hostility than with Lance.

“Well, here’s hoping the lucky streak continues,” Once more the dice clattered and words appeared.

**WHAT MORE CAN SET THE MOOD QUITE RIGHT**

**THAN THE ULTIMATE DARK AND STORMY NIGHT**

The sudden crash of thunder made them all jump. “I just have all the weather rolls, don’t I?” Arthur half joked. “At least this might make the fog go away, right?”

“I’ll check,” Lewis wanted to step away for a moment anyway. There were just…too many emotions going through him right now. After he had realized his mistake earlier he had gotten attached to Arthur, Vivi and Mystery. Probably because it was the first human contact he’d had in over twenty years. But talking to them, he’d felt happy and comfortable, if a little out of place. The moment Lance was back in the picture, so was his anger.

He hated Lance. Hated that Lance had moved past everything. It wasn’t FAIR. But he knew that same hatred was putting him at odds with Vivi and Arthur. He didn’t want to get over his hatred of Lance, but he also didn’t want to be alone again.

He opened the door and a yellow and orange petal hit his vest. Peeling it off, he looked around. The fog had thinned a bit in the falling rain, but was still present.

“Honestly, with the fog still clinging around, the rain is only going to make visibility worse,” Lewis reported.

“I just keep making things better,” Arthur grumbled.

“Hey at least with the fog, people were already staying put. I don’t think anyone was caught in the rain,” Lewis reassured him. “And at least it’s just unpleasant weather, not directly dangerous.”

“True,“ Arthur allowed, handing the dice to Vivi.

“It hasn’t been that bad today. Let’s finish this up.” Vivi enthusiastically rolled, even while Mystery pulled closer. He’d felt bad ever since Lance rolled. He couldn’t help but feel whatever it was was coming closer.

**IF INTO THE FOG YOU WOULD PEER**

**IT CONTAINS EXACTLY WHAT YOU FEA** **R**

“What, like car accidents? That’s what I expect from a fog.” Arthur threw out.

“Maybe it’s like Gozer in Ghostbusters. ‘Choose the shape of the traveler’ thing?” Lewis added.

“Then shouldn’t it still be car wrecks?”

“ _Quiet!_ ” Vivi hissed, her entire form rigid.

“Vivi, what-”

“ _Quiet, do you hear that?_ ” Her fear, something she hadn’t shown at all so far, hushed all of them. There was something, barely audible over the rain. A slow scraping of metal on asphalt.

“I-I think Lewis is right, it is from my own mind. Something fearful that I would expect to find in a foggy setting. We have to get out of here.”

“Vivi what are you-” Arthur froze as realization washed over him. “Vivi, tell me you weren’t thinking of-”

At that moment lightning flashed again. And illuminated in the flash was the silhouette a man of a man standing outside the window. A man wearing a pyramid shaped helmet.


	11. Chapter 11

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Short fics from a meme

Arthur looked at the mug that was placed next to him. “I said I need a pot of coffee, Vi, not just a cup.” It was hard enough staying awake as it was. “Could you got back and get the pot?”

“This isn’t coffee, Arthur. It’s chicken broth. You need to drink this and get some sleep.” She did her best maternal glare. Lewis was so much better at this, but he was finally spending time with his family and the one thing Vivi and Arthur agreed on was they didn’t want to disturb that. “And I made it from a can, so no worries there.”

“I can’t rest, Vivi. I have so much work to do.” He gestured at the cluttered desk.

She gave him a critical look. The bags under his eyes were deeper than when they were looking for Lewis and his skin wasn’t that pale since…banishing the memory she shook her head. “Arthur, coffee isn’t going to help you focus, it’s just going to make you jittery. You need to kick this cold before focusing on anything else. That means chicken soup, orange juice and lots of sleep.”

Arthur grumbled before pulling over the mug. “Why does this have a travel lid on it?”

“Because,” rather than answering with words, Vivi reached down and scooped him up. “You are going to bed and I didn’t want you spilling hot broth over yourself.”

“Seriously, woman, how are you so beastly strong?”

“I have to be to keep you guys safe.” She leaned over and kissed his forehead. “You are going to bed. If you need anything, I’ll be right there. And by right there I mean sitting in the same room so you don’t sneak off to work again.”

Arthur sighed, but resigned himself to the fate of bedrest. “Love you, Vi.” he mumbled.

“Love you too, you knucklehead.”

* * *

By now Arthur had learned to recognize the telltale purple sparks before Lewis blew something electronic. The ghost could easily do so on command, but like many of his new abilities it also went off when he didn’t want it to. And whatever emotional outburst lead to this must have been a doozy as the lights for the whole house went out. Sighing Arthur grabbed a mini flashlight and went to find the others. he exited his room just in time to see a purple blur rush out the front door. Frowning he turned and followed.

Lewis had ran out into the front yard and collapsed on his back, staring at the stars. His chest rose and fell like he was breathing heavily, although Arthur knew he was doing no such thing. “You okay, Big Guy?”

“I-I’m good. Just, You know, I don’t like it when the power goes out.” Lewis gave him a shaky smile that was probably supposed to reassure him. But Arthur knew better. Tempo was a small town with small town utilities. The power had gone out several times when they were kids, and it had never bothered him then.

“I’m sorry,” Arthur said softly, laying down next to him.

Lewis sighed. “This was why I didn’t want to tell you, you know. I knew you’d blame yourself and-”

“And it wasn’t my fault, I know I know.” Arthur lay down beside him “So what, praytell, wasn’t my fault.”

Lewis was silent a moment longer. “The torch went out when I fell, so when I first woke up in the cave it was dark. I was alone and the stalagmites were so dense they felt like walls closing in on me. I think that’s why the first ability I developed was fire.” He lifted the arm opposite Arthur and a puff of purple flame appeared and vanished. “It wasn’t just an anger thing. I also desperately wanted light.”

“I can deal with being alone, darkness, and being shut in as long as I’m only dealing with one or two of them. All three and I’m back there, alone in the cave. I know walls can’t hold me, that you and Vivi would never abandon me, that I can make my own light, but I just have to _escape_. It’s stupid, but…”

“It’s not stupid, Lewis. We all have damage from that night, and we’ve all found our ways of dealing with it. It’s never going to go away, not completely, but we manage it. Sometimes I need to move my limbs in weird ways, just so I know I’m controlling them. Vivi compulsively reads old diary entries so she knows she hasn’t forgotten anything. Mystery stopped eating chicken for goodness sake.”

“Wait, really?’ Now that Arthur mentioned it, there hadn’t been a single request for Mystery’s favorite dinner. “Why chicken?”

“Lewis, in all the years you’ve known me, how many time’s have I been referred to as that particular fowl?”

“Several, but what does that have to do with Mystery?”

Arthur waved the metal limb that gleamed in the moonlight. “Somehow his mind connected that less than flattering nickname to the actual bird. I may not taste like chicken, but chicken seems to taste like me. My point is, we’re all affected. If you feel like you need to go outside, don’t worry about it.”

“There you are!” A flashlight several magnitudes stronger than his little penlight found them. “We couldn’t find you when the lights went out.”

“Just checking out the night sky. Blackouts are perfect times for stargazing.” Arthur slightly inclined his head towards Lewis and that told Vivi all she needed to know.

She lay down on Lewis’s other side while Mystery jumped into his lap. “It is a beautiful night, just let us know next time you go out.”  
  


“If there’s a blackout, just assume it,” Arthur said easily, resting his head on the ghost’s shoulder.

They were both there, and Mystery too, the moon and stars were bright and a warm wind flattered along the ground. Finally _Finally_ Lewis relaxed.

And the lights in the house flickered back on.

“Oh, er, should we go back inside?’ He suggested awkwardly.

“Nah, I’m comfy.” Vivi snuggled up to him some more. 

“Same,” Arthur didn’t seem inclined to move either.

Well, it wasn’t like Lewis particularly wanted to get up. He closed his eyes and listened to the wind around him, felt his loved ones at his side. 

He was free

* * *


	12. Harmony

Once upon a time his and Vivi’s courtship was like a dance.They circled each other growing closer and closer. Every once and a while Arthur or Mystery would increase the tempo and the distance between them would close a little more rapidly. And then the distance was gone and he was caught up in her Melody, a waltz for the two of them, with the Rhythm Arthur and Mystery provided quickly becoming lost, the Harmony between the group becoming just a Harmony between the two of them.

Then **_THAT._**

Now there was no Harmony. All there was was discord. The four of them which had once played together so effortlessly now clashed. And he knew he clashed worst of all.

It was his own fault as much as he wanted to blame Arthur. In fact his desire to blame Arthur for pretty much everything was one of the big sour notes. His mind knew the blond wasn’t at fault for anything, but his heart didn’t feel it just yet. Arthur was still scared of him, and Vivi was furious, both for Arthur’s sake and her stolen memories. Mystery, well, seemed to be more the disapproving parent. He certainly had Mom’s ‘I’m very disappointed in you’ glare down.

He hated it. He hated feeling the discordance between them all. Even worse he was the cause of it. He sighed as he leaned on the balcony of the house he had conjured. Not a mansion, that wouldn’t do anything to help lessen the tension, but a nice home they could camp out in.

The door opened behind him and he could _feel_ Vivi’s presence. He wanted…he wanted so many things. To hold her, to kiss her, to tell her how much he loved her. But he restrained himself. She’d made it quite clear she wanted no such attention for him.

She’d stopped as soon as she saw him. In the past she would have run up and jumped on him. Now she said nothing, just a quiet shuffle of feet as she began to turn around.

“Should I go?” Lewis asked, fingers gently running down the large crack in his heart.

“No,” Vivi’s tones was without inflection, something hard for her. “You were here first.”

“That’s not what I meant.” He grabbed his anchor. “Do you want me gone? For good?”

Her movement stopped. “Why?” It was the same flat tone. No anger, no curiosity.

“Because no one wants me here.” It was a painful admission. “I’m not Lewis anymore. just angry-mansion-ghost.”

The footsteps reversed and carried Vivi to be standing right next to him. “ ‘No one want s you here’ Does that include yourself.?”

“Maybe,” Lewis admitted. “I…I don’t like where here is now. But I want to be where here used to be. I just don’t know if that place still exists.”

“I wouldn’t mind going there myself,” Vivi admitted. “But that place doesn’t exist anymore. Things have changed. Including the fact that you’re _not_ Lewis Pepper.”

His hair flared up in shock- “I-”

“Am a ghost.” Vivi said firmly. “Lewis Pepper was a calm, level headed, and rational man. You aren’t. You physically can’t be. Ghosts exist via strong emotions, passions, and obsessions. The man I loved died in that cave. You’re close, but you’re not him anymore.”

The locket hadn’t cracked further, but Lewis felt as though it had shattered into a thousand pieces. He leaned forward, hair hiding his eyes. “Then I should just leave. There’s nothing for me here.”

“I wouldn’t say that. For one, if you left, Arthur would just go to find you again.”

Lewis snorted. “Arthur’s scared of me.”

“Arthur was terrified of Mystery since the cave. Having a cute pupper turn into a giant monster and rip out your arm at the socket will do that to you. But at no point did he even suggest we leave him behind. When Mystery needed comfort, Arthur was one of the first ones to reach out and pet him. Arthur doesn’t let his fear get in the way of his friends. He’d track you down and bring you back, no matter what.”

There was one pretty big what. Namely if Lewis passed on. But she didn’t want to think about what that would do to Arthur, so she kept her mouth shut.

“So you’re pretty much stuck with us.” She concluded. “And that act that you were willing to leave for our sake, even though it went against both your obsessions, is a serious point in your favor so,” she stuck out her hand. “I’m Vivi, welcome to the team.”

Lewis almost hesitated. He knew what the hand represented. By taking it, he was agreeing with her terms, that their past together _didn’t_ _happen_ becasue he wasn’t the person he was then. He was a new acquaintance, one who would have to work to earn her friendship and trust. More only if he was exceptionally lucky and he, by no means, should count on that ever happening.

But he still took it and felt some of the discordant note smooth into Harmony once more. The tempo was almost painfully slow and he knew they might never be able to hold her in his arms and waltz with her.

But it was still worth it. Anything was worth it to be able to be included with life’s dance with her once more.


	13. Revenge of the Ficbits

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Warning for Canonical Character Death

Lewis had never liked the video games where the maze reset if you took a wrong path, and he found he liked the real thing even less. But at least the fae pranking them has promised no harm would come to them while they ran the maze. The fae had even sworn an oath. They could eat, sleep, do whatever they pleased and would owe nothing, not be owed anything more than was agreed (namely that they’d stop pranking people who went into these woods.

Arthur had been working on a mental map, and he was pretty sure he knew the way through the last area they’d been in, but for now they were taking a break. Vivi had already dropped off, curled up in Lewis’s arms. Arthur was leaning against his chest, and while he hadn’t drifted off yet, it was only a matter of time.

And it wasn’t half bad, honestly. The three of them curled up together, on soft moss surrounded by the smell of trees and flowers. In fact, once they’d finished the maze, he’d have to find this spot and come back here. But for now, it was just the three of them having a long overdue rest.

* * *

Arthur was so glad to have Lewis back. And it was true, no matter how afraid he was of what Lewis had become. He forced himself to think of Lewis’s smile, of his gentleness. Not on the fact that if he so chose he could rest control of Arthur’s body from him. That Arthur would be helpless to stop him. That every touch might herald the last conscious action he ever made.

Lewis knew Arthur had nothing to do with what happened in the cave. And he believed it, he really did. He harbored no ill feelings towards his old friend. Just the occasional thought of how easy it’d be to _snap his throat_. Or to _reach into his chest and stop his heart from beating_. He didn’t want to hurt Arthur, but he couldn’t banish the thought from his mind on the best of days.

Vivi and Mystery were cautious. They knew of a trauma victim’s fears and a wraith’s obsessions. And they did their best to keep the other two on the fragile dance they all performed, even though all four knew one of them would make a misstep. All they could do was hope it wouldn’t be a fatal one.

* * *

Vivi hated September 4th. It was silly, as silly as Friday the XIII, but it was there. 9/4 Ku Shi. _Torture. Death._ So she did what she always did when something scared her. She ignored it. She gave such unreasonable fears no power over her. She made sure to go out with her fr

* * *

iends every September 4th just to spit in the superstition’s face. The worry was there. From her moment of waking to when she laid down to sleep she fretted over what might happen, but she never let it show.

This September 4th was no different and now here she was, in the bottom of a cave, her love dead, his blood splattered all over her. Arthur screaming in fear and pain and Mystery growling, trying to protect him she imagined.

Arthur tortured. Lewis dead. Ku Shi _Ku shi kU sHi kuSHiKusHiKushIkUShi_

Vivi didn’t even scream as her mind broke.

* * *

Once Lewis had been the storm. When he first came back his fury was the wind, his loss the pounding rain, his betrayal the lightning. And as his emotions grew, so did the storm. Empowering him. Showing everyone the price of crossing him.

Up until the moment he didn’t want it any more.

When he tried to let go, find peace, he discovered the storm was still there, it just wasn’t under his control (and maybe it never had been). He was thrown out to see, lost in the tempest. Thrown about like a spare piece of driftwood, he lost all sense of direction. Was he close to shore? Close to home? He didn’t know. All he knew was he was drowning.

But just as he was about to give up and let himself be pulled under, he felt two sets of arms pull him to the surface. They hoisted him up and embraced him, a small canine form curled at his feet.

They were all adrift in the storm, but they’d find their way to shore together.

* * *

“So what are you?”

“Good sir, can you not tell I’m a dog?”

“Uh-huh. Pull the other one, it’s got bells.”

“I am appalled you disbelieve me. Am I not shaped like a dog? Do I not have four legs and a muzzle? Have I not a license specifying me as such?”

“You talk.”

“Was it not yourself who told my dear human that I would not be permitted to bark in here? Is this the thanks I get for trying to be agreeable?”

“Never seen a dog with glasses.”

“And it’s no wonder, at the price they’re asking. Truly outrageous. At least we dogs have superior hearing and smell. You poor humans having to make do.”

“I still say anyone who thinks you’re a dog is dumber than a box of bricks.”

“My dear sir, in my experience that statement says more about your species than my own.”

* * *


	14. Vivi Yukino and the Curse of the White Forest

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> My half of an art trade with huppupbup.tumblr.com, a pulp Mystery Skulls Story
> 
> Warning for non canon version of canon dismemberment

Tempo, Texas was a small town. The kind that rarely made footnotes in travel plans. A place where you might stop to use the toilet and not much else. But it was where Vivi’s hard won information had sent her. She hadn’t enjoyed the jobs she took to get it, but if it panned out everything would have been worth it.

She pulled her baby blue ‘42 Hudson Commodore into the local gas station. She rolled down the window when the attendant came over. “I’m looking for a fill up for the car, and maybe myself. Also I wouldn’t mind a place to get Beauty here looked over.” She lovingly ran her hand over the steering wheel.

The attendant chuckled mirthlessly. “Well, Miss, normally I’d point you to Pepper Paradiso for food or Kingsmen’s for maintenance, but you picked a bad week for both.”

She lowered her glasses. “Both?” she asked.

“Those places are normally top quality, but with their kids missing and all…”

Vivi straightened up, all ease gone from her posture. “There are children missing?!”

“Well, not children. Lewis and Arthur are pretty much grown, but to the Peppers and Lance, they’re still children. Went out into the desert a few days ago and never came back. There are search parties, of course. But they haven’t found anything. The garage is closed while Lance is out searching. Pepper Paradiso is open with the cook and waitresses keeping it going while the family searches.” The attendant shook his head. “You’d have thought they’d know better, living here. The desert doesn’t care who you are.”

He went to pump gas and Vivi rolled up the window. “Mystery, you thinking what I’m thinking?”

The small dog curled up on the seat next to her lifted his head. “It could be just a coincidence, but with the Cult of the White Forest known to be active here it seems far more likely the boys unfortunately found where they were holed up. And given the cult’s tendency for human sacrifice…”

Vivi sighed. “At the very least we can try to bring the bodies back.” She pulled a small compass out of her clutch and stuck it on the dash. It wouldn’t point north, but instead at the nearest magical source outside the car (and hadn’t that taken some doing? It had taken forever to tweak it so it didn’t point right back at Mystery or her own gear). The needle hovered for a moment before pointing out of town.

As she paid for the gas, Vivi just hoped she wouldn’t have to do too much offroading.

~

“I think this is the place,” Vivi looked at the small cave mouth in the desert canyon. It wasn’t that far off the road, but she could feel the compulsion telling her to leave. It would explain why it hadn’t been checked out yet.

“Invariably,” Mystery also hopped out of the car. “This place reeks of foul magicks. Are you sure you want to go in?”

Vivi grabbed her clutch and her bat and grinned. “You know me, more moxie than sense.” She gave the bat a test swing before entering the cave.

The inside was lit by flickering torches that threw shadows dancing on the wall. In the center of the tunnel was a blond man with an expressionless face.

“Hey, Mack,” Vivi called out. “What brings a nice gent like you to a cave like this?”

The man didn’t respond verbally. His expression didn’t even change, but he came at her, hands going for her throat.

Vivi easily dodged out of the way. “Sorry, bozo. I’m not that easy to dust.” She swung the bat his head, intent to knock him out on one blow. The bat missed his head, though, whizzing harmlessly through his hair. The blonde sent a haymaker her way, but the punch was sloppy and missed her by a mile.

The dance of violence continued, and Vivi felt herself getting increasingly frustrated. She was good in a fight. She _knew_ she was good in a fight, but she couldn’t seem to land a blow on this yahoo. Mystery couldn’t either, as any attempt to bite the man only succeeded in tearing his clothes.

“Something’s screwing with us.” she snarled, making another attempt. “This mook barely knows how to tango.”

“I think you’re right.” For all Mystery preferred to solve problems with his brain rather than his teeth, this was far more difficult than it should be. “Do you think you can handle him while I smoke out whatever is doing this?”

Some of Vivi’s grin returned. “I could do this all day.”

Trusting her, Mystery fell back and focused all his senses on the clash between the two. There! A small spark of purple impacted Vivi’s bat, knocking it just off course enough to not hurt the thug. Much to his surprise, though, he saw the wisp immediately reverse direction and impact the thug’s wrist, making sure he attack wouldn’t hurt Vivi. “Vivi, try to subdue more than harm.”

“Can’t I subdue _with_ harm?”

“No. The interloper is messing with both you and him. I think it’s trying to prevent anyone from being harmed. Which means if you’re not trying to directly hurt him, your attacks may not be affected.”

“Right.” Vivi adjusted her grip on the bat so she was holding it more like a staff. She shoved it towards him. He caught it with both hands and she slid underneath, wrapping one arm around his neck and into a chokehold. The man flailed for a bit, but his movements became more sluggish.

Mystery saw the wisp flit back and forth fretfully. “Don’t worry. She won’t kill him. But why are you so determined to stop both him and us.” The wisp was a weak spirit. It must have taken a tremendous amount of will to affect the material world even once, much less over and over.

“ _He’s my friend._ ” Mystery could barely hear the spirit. “ _He’s being controlled by the tattoo on his left arm. He doesn’t want to hurt anyone._ ”

Mystery felt himself go cold. He ran to the weakening man and ripped the left sleeve of his shirt away. A tattoo of white branches entwining covered most of his left arm and, now that he was aware of it, the magic reeked. “Vivi, I’ll take over pinning him.” he said, expanding to his full size, “We need to put a ward or something on his arm. He’s not doing this of his own free will.”

Vivi paled and released him, trusting Mystery to keep him down. She grabbed her clutch and and pulled a paper ward out, wrapping it around his shoulder.

For the first time the man’s expression changed from the blank look, twisting in immeasurable grief as he screamed “ ** _Lewis, NO! I’M SORRY_**!” before falling unconscious.

~

“He said Lewis, that’s the name of one of the missing boys.” Vivi observed. “So that would make him Arthur?”

“If so than I assume the spirit here is Lewis.” Mystery looked to the wisp for confirmation.

“ _You know us?_ ” The wisp, Lewis asked.

“We heard you were missing.” Vivi explained, able to hear the wisp too, now that she was no longer fighting Arthur. “What happened?”

“ _We came to the cave to explore. Arthur didn’t want to go in, but I pressured him. We got a little bit farther in, to a cliff edge and Arthur suddenly pushed me off it. I died._ ” Lewis shuddered. “ _I woke up almost instantly. I just wanted to know **why**. Why would my best friend kill me? I found him in one of the offshoot caves, strapped to a table and screaming. He was crying out for me, apologizing, pleading for me to be okay. There was another man there, putting that tattoo on his arm. He was gloating about controlling Arthur, forcing him to kill me. About how the tattoo would put him under his control permanently. I wasn’t strong enough to affect things yet, so all I could do was watch. I saw the moment Arthur became a prisoner in his own body. When the light left his eyes and there was only a puppet left. Artie’s a stand up guy, he’d never want to hurt anyone. So all I could is try to stop it_.”

“I’m so sorry.” This was horrible. Vivi had her own reason for hunting down the Cult of the White Forest, but what these two had been through was beyond the pale.

“And concerning.” Mystery added. “It normally takes time for ghosts to manifest, usually months. It sounds like you did so in under an hour. Furthermore to go from being unable to affect the mortal realm to redirecting multiple attacks in mere days is unprecedented. Which means there is something in the cave that is likely boosting spirits. While doing so to Lewis has worked in our favor, it’s likely this location was chosen to boost something else. We need to ascertain-”

Mystery was interrupted by a scream from Arthur. The paper wards wrapped around his shoulder were beginning to smoke and crumble.

“Kill me!” he gasped. “Don’t let me be controlled again. I can’t kill anyone else!”

“ _No, don’t!_ ” Lewis insisted. “ _He doesn’t deserve to die_!”

Vivi grabbed her bat and twisted the handle. The shell of the bat fell away, revealing a sharp sword hidden within.

“ _No!_ ” The purple wisp flew towards her, forcing all his strength in knocking the blade out of Vivi’s hands. Mystery surged forward and locked his jaws on Arthur’s shoulder and bit down as hard as he could.

Arthur and Lewis both screamed, one in pain and one in despair. The arm fell to the ground and began to flop about like a fish, the exposed skin turning green, contrasting with the white branches.

“ _Get away from him!_ ” Lewis tried to bat Mystery away from Arthur, but he held his ground.

“Unless you wish for Arthur to die as he requested, he needs medical attention and Vivi and myself are the only ones here. We need to get him to a hospital.”

“No time!” Arthur gasped through the pain. “The ritual. It’s today. It’s now. At the bottom of the cave. You have to stop it. It doesn’t matter if I die. You _have_ to stop it.”

Vivi cursed and grabbed a balm from her bag. She was hoping to save it, as she wasn’t going to be able to get more, but Arthur was right, they didn’t have time to waste. She scooped up the goop in her hands and smeared it on Arthur’s wound, trying not to let the flowing blood wash it away.

“What is that?” Arthur hissed as the pain became more bearable.

“A balm of life. Got it for helping some monks with a demon.” Vivi felt the wound close itself beneath her fingers. “You’re not going to be at a hundred percent, but at least you won’t be in danger of bleeding out.

“Thanks.” Arthur was pale, but whether it was from physical or emotional trauma it was impossible to say. He tried to get to his feet and yelped suddenly. “I felt something! It held my hand that’s not there anymore.”

“I think it was Lewis,” Vivi said softly. She could see the purple wisp of light hovering by his left side.

Arthur’s knees almost buckled beneath him. “Lewis? He’s still here? God, he’s gotta hate me. I murdered him. I-”

“He knows it wasn’t your fault.” Vivi said gently. “He’s the one who told us what happened, that you were being controlled. He’s the one who stopped me from hurting you and vice versa.”

“He told- Lewis are you really there?” He turned in the direction of the wisp, but didn’t seem to see it. “I can feel you, but I can’t see you. Say something Lew.”

“ _I’m here Artie. It’s really me,_ ”

But Arthur showed no response to the words.

“It takes a certain amount of spiritual talent or training to be able to perceive spirits at all,” Mystery explained. “He’s there, but it’s faint. Vivi and myself can barely perceive him.”

“But I can _feel_ him.” Arthur sobbed. “He’s holding my hand.”

“Your arm is…a bit more _spiritual_ right now than the rest of you.” Mystery explained, looking at Vivi for help.

“Arthur, I hate to ask you to do more, but Mystery and I need to find the cult and stop them. Can you tell us how to get to their ritual?”  
  


“Oh, I’ll do better than that.” Arthur shakily got to his feet. He felt Lewis’s hand on his arm, steadying him. It was something he’d felt throughout his life, Lewis had always been there to pick him up, but it seemed to mean so much more now. Despite what he’d been forced to do, Lewis was still by his side. Still helping him along. And there was only thing Arthur could do and that was help as much as he could. “I’ll take you right there. I’m not sure how many, I saw at least ten people while I was a puppet, but I don’t know how many more.”

Vivi grabbed the bat sheath and screwed it back on the sword. “It doesn’t matter how many. We have to stop them.”

“Indeed.” Mystery stood at his full height, all seven tails flowing behind him,

Arthur whistled. “Lady, that is one impressive pooch you got there.”

Vivi winked at him. “Oh you have no idea.”

~

Arthur led them through the caverns and tunnels he’d patrolled several times throughout the past few days. Just because he’d been a prisoner in his mind didn’t mean he hadn’t been paying attention. Still, it seemed mostly empty, though there were signs people had been there. Which mean everyone was probably focused on the ritual, with Arthur acting as security.

Arthur led them to a cavern with two exits, then paused. “The path to the right goes down directly to the ritual chamber. The path to the left leads to an overhang. You could probably see the ritual from there but…” Arthur shrunk back. “I don’t think I can take the left path. Lewis either.” The iron grip on his left hand supported that statement.

“That’s where—? Right.” Vivi nodded to herself. “Mystery and I will go check out the overhang, you and Lewis stay here and call out if something happens.”

“Sounds like a plan.” Arthur nodded with more confidence than he felt and watched them disappear down the left path. “She’s some dame, huh, Lew?” He felt a squeeze in response. Arthur squeezed back as best he could.

“I’m sorry, Lew. I’m so sorry.” he felt tears gather in his eyes. “I wish we could switch. I don’t deserve to be saved when you couldn’t be.” He felt Lewis’s grip on his hand change, with one hand underneath his, holding his hand palm up. The other began to trace something on his palm.

N-O-T Y-O-U-R F-A-U-L-T G-L-A-D Y-O-U A-R-E O-K-A-Y I A-M H-E-R-E I A-M -N-O-T L-E-A-V-I-N-G Y-O-U

Oh there were definitely tears now. Arthur reached over with his right arm, trying to hold Lewis. But there was nothing there but empty air.

~

Vivi and Mystery crept towards the edge of the ledge. From the lights and chants coming from below it was obvious something was going on down there.

A tentative peek below revealed twenty figures in the white robes with green branches of the Cult of the White Forest. They were around a massive spell circle, funneling arcane energies into it. In the center of the circle was the sacrifice meant to cement the ritual, a corpse impaled on a stalagmite that could only be the remains of Lewis Pepper.

“We don’t have time for a plan,” Mystery hissed, his eyes rapidly going over the circle. “They’ve already finished the first part and are minutes away from completing the second. Go down the other path. Take Arthur if he’ll go, but you don’t have time to convince him. Attack, cause a ruckus. Once you start I’ll jump down from here and divide their forces.”

“On it.” She may have been the boss, but Mystery knew more of such ancient spell work, and was a stickler for overplanning things. If he said there was no time, there was no time.

She swiftly went back the way she came and found Arthur and the wisp. “I’m going in there to finish it. I’d appreciate any help, but I don’t have time to convince you. Are you in or out?”

“In,” Arthur said darkly. “Both of us.”

She nodded brusquely. “Good.” She went towards the right path, listening intently to the sounds to cultists were making.

Arthur followed her, trying to make as little noise as possible. At least until they got to where the passage opened up into the ritual cavern and he saw what was at the center of it. “L-Lewis?”

“T-H-A-T I-S N-O-T M-E I A-M H-E-R-E W-I-T-H Y-O-U” Lewis frantically wrote on his friend’s hand, doing his best not to look as his own days old corpse.

But Arthur didn’t seem to be paying attention. His eyes focused on the impaled form on the stalagmite. His jaw clenched and his pupils contracted into pinpricks. With an inarticulate cry, Arthur charged towards the nearest cultist, tackling him from behind. He pounded the back of the cultist’s head with both hands, even though only one made contact. He didn’t notice the blackjack aimed at his own head until he was suddenly yanked back by his nonexistent left arm, causing the attack to hit the guy he was pummeling.

“Thanks Lew,” Arthur said, getting back into a fighting stance.

“ _You can thank me by not getting yourself killed_ ,” the ghost answered, even though he knew Arthur couldn’t hear him.

Another cultist with a blackjack made to attack Arthur, but before Lewis could block his attack he took a bat to the side of the head. Vivi smiled predatorially. Now that Lewis was no longer messing with her attacks, she could truly cut loose.

“Stop them! They must not interfere!” The head cultist screamed. “We’re too close to be thwarted now! The time of our Lady is at hand!”

The remaining eighteen cultists advanced, sure the blue girl was vicious with that bat and the blond was in a near berserker rage, but there were only two of them. That was before an unholy, inhuman, scream tore from above as Mystery dropped in the middle of the crowd, red kitsunebi streaming from his mouth.

After that it was madness. Lewis’s ephemeral hands were full keeping Arthur safe, even as he tore through any cultist he came close to like a man possessed. Thankfully Vivi didn’t need any help. She and her bat wove an elegant dance of violence, tearing through the assembled men, leaving broken bones and bruises in her wake. Still, Lewis knew if she hadn’t put the sheath back it would be a trail of limbs and pools of blood she’d be leaving behind instead. And honestly he was seeing enough blood from the bite marks of her fox/wolf/dog thing as it grabbed enemies who were screaming and trying to get away and shook them like ragdolls, occasionally tossing them into Vivi’s path.

It was a brutal and desperate fight. But somehow— somehow, they were winning. Soon most of the robed figures were crumpled and unconscious. Only one remained, backing away from the group.

“You must be the boss,” Vivi deduced. “Your kind always hang back and let others do all the hard work.” She twisted the sheath off the sword, letting it fall to the ground.

The head cultist looked at the blade in horror. “The Snow Swordswoman? No. No, you’re too young. A descendant then? Well, you’ve failed. The Cult of the White Forest will live on!” He ripped a pendant from around snapped it in half.

“ _ **No!**_ ” Vivi screamed, leaping forward with her sword. The blade sliced through where the cultist was, but he had vanished into thin air. “We have to find him! He can’t be allowed to escape and start this all over.”

“That’s the bastard who put that mark on my arm. He is NOT getting away with this!” Arthur growled, hand clenched.

“No, I rather imagine he isn’t.” Mystery stated, examining the remains of the pendant. “And he isn’t getting anywhere near as far as he thinks he is.”

~

The colors of the world faded until there was barely any. Sounds were echoed and distorted. But still the man laughed. He only had a brief window of time in the Spirit World, but it was all he needed to cover the distance to make his escape. Losing this site was unfortunate, but it shouldn’t take too long to set up elsewhere. Soon the White Lady would walk the world again.

He turned to leave and ran directly into something solid. What could possibly be solid in the Spirit World? He looked up. And up. And saw the figure of the Sacrifice glaring down on him, eyes violet embers in pits of darkness.

The Cultist didn’t have time to scream before a hand the size of his head closed around his throat.

~

“What do you mean he’s not getting far? Where’s he going to be?” Arthur demanded. “We need to stop that loon before he does to someone else what he did to me and Lew!”

“There is really nothing to worry about. Just give it a few minutes,”

“We don’t _have_ a few minutes, Mystery.” Vivi weighed in. “We need to know where’s he’s going to be so we can stop-”

She was cut off as the head cultist came flying out of nowhere and impacted the cave wall with some force. He had a bloody, broken nose and some severe bruising, especially the large finger marks around his throat. He was also very unconscious.

“Feel any better, Lewis?” Mystery asked.

“ _A bit_ ,” he admitted.

“Lewis did that?” Arthur laughed. “Great going, Bud!” He laughed until the it turned to sobs, his dead hand clutching Lewis’s returned hand for all its worth. “So what now?”

“Now we deal with _this_.” Mystery turned towards the spell circle that hummed with power even Arthur could feel. “The circle was completed. If they had managed to summon their foul patron into this circle there would have been nothing we could have done to stop her manifesting into this plane. We need to disable it and safely vent the power it contains before some other malevolent force finds it.”

Arthur limped to the edge of the circle. “So that’s what they made me kill Lewis for? To use it to turn some spirit monster flesh and blood?”

“The long and short of it is yes.” Mystery confirmed. “It’s insanely complex so it may take quite a while to dispel.”

Arthur nodded and took a step back with his left foot. Then he surged forward and the circle went off, a pillar of power surging up through the cave and all the arcane power gathered over days exploded forth.

“Arthur, what the HELL!” Lewis shouted. “I know it wasn’t your fault when you pushed me off the cliff, but what the actual…” Lewis trailed off as Arthur was crying one more, but this time with grin stretching his face. It was then he realized that for the first time since his death, Arthur was looking directly at him.

“You’re back, Lew.” Arthur said, falling to his knees. “You’re really back.”

“I’m…”Lewis suddenly realized he could feel the chill of the cave. Color had returned to the world. “Arthur you…” Lewis began hyperventilating…Oh God, he was _breathing_ again.

“ _Do you have any idea how foolish that was?!_ ” Mystery hissed. “ _How many ways that stunt could have backfired?! Vivi, tell him! Vivi?_ ”

But Vivi wasn’t paying attention to Mystery. Her attention was firmly on the bronze muscled hunk that had materialized in the center of the circle. Especially the fact that his clothes hadn’t appeared with him. “I am going to have his purple babies,” she murmured.

Though not quietly enough, as both Mystery and Lewis looked at her aghast, Lewis in particular realizing his state of undress and turning red before trying to cover up with his hands.

Arthur laughed and began to unbutton and shrug off his vest. “I know it won’t fit you, Lew. But maybe it can be a loincloth or something?” Thank goodness Lewis had such a narrow waist.

“Thanks Arty,” One hand still covering himself he reached out for the vest, then froze. “Arty… _what is that_?!”

Arthur stared in shock at the hand, the left hand he had unthinkingly used to hand Lewis the vest. It was his hand, he’d know it anywhere. The problem was what the formerly missing hand was attached to, namely nothing. Shortly past the wrist it faded away into skin colored wisps. He wiggled and flexed the fingers, as if to make sure it was his. “Well, that’s something. I think I’m done.” Arthur’s eyes rolled into his head and he fainted away.

“Arthur!” Lewis caught him before he hit the ground, Vivi there a moment later.

“He’ll be fine,” she said, looking him over. “Some rest and a good meal is all he really needs. And a new shirt, since I’m guessing hiding the missing arm might be a thing now. I think a few of the creeps were his size, so maybe we can steal one of theirs? I don’t think any of their pants would fit you, though. Maybe the robes?”  
  


“I hate to wear one of those, even around my waist, but I don’t see much of an option.” Lewis chanced a glance towards the center of the circle where his body had been. It hadn’t survived the energy release and the clothes as well as any flesh had burned up, leaving only charred bones. Lewis wasn’t sure how he felt about that. One one hand, it was his body that had been destroyed. On the other, that would have been really hard to explain. “Yeah, if you can toss me a robe, I just want to get me and Arthur out of this place.”

“Not a problem,” Vivi found a guy about Arthur’s size and stripped him of his shirt and passed his robe to Lewis, turning around to give him some modesty (despite her eyeful earlier). “I don’t think I ever introduced myself. I’m Vivi Yukino. Detective.”

“Lewis Pepper, I work at my family’s restaurant. Arthur here’s a mechanic. And thank you, for everything you did for us.”

“Just wish I’d gotten here earlier and all this could have been avoided.” she said sadly. Sure it had ended a lot better than it could have. Lewis was alive again and Arthur had his hand, if not his arm, back. Still, she didn’t think either of the boy would be without nightmares for a good long while.

The shirt was on, but the sleeve was obviously empty. Lewis tore up the remains of Arthur’s old bloody shirt and tried stuffing that in. “I don’t know how we’re going to hide this.”

“I can handle that short term.” Mystery offered. “Illusions are my specialty after all.” Lewis nodded and picked up Arthur. “And what about these guys?”

“We’ll send a black and white after them,” Vivi explained. “Except for him.” She glared at the cult leader. “I’m not giving him a chance to escape. But he’s riding back to Tempo in the trunk.”

~

Lewis’s heart felt heavy. Almost as heavy as the food he was carrying to Kingsmen’s. The past few days since his resurrection had been a whirlwind. He and Arthur had been returned home, seemingly without permanent harm, making Vivi the town hero. All the cultists had been arrested, though the leader hadn’t survived. Whether it was from the injuries he gave him or Vivi and Mystery finishing the job he didn’t know and he didn’t think he could bear to know.

But today was the day Lance had given Vivi’s Hudson, which apparently she named ‘Beauty’, a clean bill of health, which means today was the day she would be on her way.

“You’re really going to miss her?” Arthur commented when he saw Lewis’s face. Not that he wasn’t grateful to the two himself. Especially for them enchanting a mannequin arm so no one would notice it wasn’t his real one as long as he was wearing it.

“Well, yeah! She’s one incredible dame. Not to mention beautiful and all.” Lewis flushed.

“Oh, ho, ho. I think perhaps _someone_ wants to get started on those purple babies?” Arthur elbowed Lewis who flushed even harder.

“No! I mean, eventually. But like, with dating and stuff first, you know? I want to do right by her.”

“You’ve really got it bad huh?” Arthur’s mischievous grin softened. “You know if you’re going to tell her, it has to be soon, right? Like, real soon.”

“I know. You don’t think she’ll think it’s weird, right?”

Arthur gave him a flat look. “Lewis. Please tell me how on Earth you having a crush could be any weirder than our first two hours of knowing her.”

“Point.”

“Hey guys!” Vivi ran up to them, as did Mystery in his small dog disguise. “I was hoping to see you before I left.”

“So was I. I mean, I was hoping to see you. I brought you something to eat on the road.” Lewis awkwardly shoved the parcel of food into her hands.

Vivi smiled and he felt his heart flutter. “Thank you so much. You and your families have taken such good care of me over the last few days.”  
  


“You saved us,” Arthur said softly. “Some food and car maintenance is the least we can do.”

“I would have saved you for free any time,” she pointed out. Balancing the food in one hand, she pulled two business cards out and handed them to the boys. “This is my Detective Agency, Mystery Skulls. Feel free to drop by if you ever have a case, want to join me on a case, or just because. It was really nice to have someone watching my back in there besides Mystery. You guys need anything, I’m yours.”

Oh, his face certainly was red now. But Lewis forced himself to actually say what he wanted, rather than put it off with the promise of future contact. “Vivi, I, um—” He swallowed. “I really think you’re amazing and strong and beautiful, and I’d like the chance to get to know you better.”

She smiled at him, and there was a definite impish quality to it. She placed the food in the car, then sashayed towards him. Suddenly her foot slid out, knocking his aside and Lewis lost his balance.

He never hit the floor, though. She caught him and without hesitation, pressed her lips against his in a passionate kiss. Then she straightened him up, her hand lingering on his broad chest. “I really look forward to hearing from _you_. Bye, boys,” she said with a wink, before disappearing into her car. The engine roared to life and she was gone.

Lewis stared after her for a moment, his breath stolen away. “Arthur. I am going to marry that girl.”

“Good to know you’re on board with the purple baby plan,” Arthur said, thumping Lewis’s back as they watched the dust disappear. They both knew this wasn’t the end. This was only the beginning

~

It had taken days. Slow, agonizing days. A trail of drag marks and blood were the only sign of the disembodied green arm as it pulled itself by its fingertips down the array of caverns and passages and at long last into the center of the former spell circle. The magic had been used up; there was little left but dregs, but it would have to do.

Rearing up on its wrist, it slammed its palm down, focusing all the energy that animated it until it was truly nothing but a severed tattooed limb.

In the center of the circle, a small tree with blue bark, white leaves, and red blossoms sprung from the ground.


	15. Return of the Revenge of the Ficbits

Two official looking men walked into Pepper Paradiso. “Health Inspectors. There’ve been reports of an undead working here. As you know, if found accurate it constitutes enough of a health risk that this place may be shut down indefinitely." 

Mrs. Pepper moved to the front of the building. "I see what happened. This is a misunderstanding." 

"I’m sure.” said one of the Inspectors in a flat tone that indicated he’d heard it all before.

"Lewis, come here please.“ She called to the back and waited for him to come up front. "As you can see while my son is undead, he’s a ghost. As a primarily incorporeal entity he’s incapable of carrying or spreading pathogens and there’s no risk of body parts contaminating food." 

"So it seems,” the other agent nodded. The was an exception written into the regulation for incorporeal undead. But there was one more thing he had to check to be sure. “Emission type?”

"Fire.“ Lewis demonstrated, setting his hand ablaze. 

No ectoplasmic slime to contaminate food then. "We’ll have to do a cursatory check, but everything seems to be in order.” For once it did seem to be a misunderstanding. But then again few people were aware of the incorporeal loophole. 

"Certainly. You can look around wherever you like. Just let me know if you need anything.“ Outside she was smiles and sweetness. But when she found out who reported her sweet baby boy to the health inspectors, there would be hell to pay.

* * *

Prompt: When they'd figured out how to restore them most of her memories had slid neatly back into place, but sometimes Vivi still has those moments where something that should be familiar just-- isn't

Lewis driving the van was a big one. She knew, _knew_ , that had been the norm for most of the time the three had been together. But she still felt unsettled when Lewis’s massive form was the one next to her, a feeling that something wasn’t right. And she really wished Arthur hadn’t immediately banished himself to the backseat upon Lewis’s return, like he didn’t belong with them and knew it, worse _accepted_ it.  
  
And for all the memories she had back, Vivi couldn’t understand how she had ever been comfortable with that

* * *

Prompt: She knows what he's going to ask; it's the same question he's asked her countless times ... and each time it breaks her heart just a little more to have to answer it

To her eyes it was a picture of her in an odd pose against in front of an old house, one she remembered from a pre-cave investigation. The pose made it obvious she had been leaning against someone. She tried to make out something, anything, about the person, but all she could make out was the building behind them. 

“Do you recognize him?”

  
  
“Sorry Arthur, I don’t see anyone but myself in that picture

* * *

Prompt: Arthur was scared -no, he was terrified- but he knew what to do.

“Vivi, stop!” Arthur put himself between his best friend and…the man who used to be his best friend. Putting his back to the wraith that wanted him dead set off every survival instinct he had. It would be so easy for Lewis to fry him or snap his neck.

But he knew what Lewis meant to Vivi, even if she didn’t, and she couldn’t let her destroy him. He only hoped Lewis would play nice until all of them figured out what was going on


	16. A visit to a Cave (Crossover with Ghost Trick)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> MAJOR SPOILERS FOR GHOST TRICK: PHANTOM DETECTIVE
> 
> If you've not played the game, play it first!

Lynne pulled up in front of the cave. “This is the place.” 

The small kitten in the passenger’s seat blinked lazily at her, flicking his tail. _This is certainly an ominous looking place_. Sissel’s familiar voice echoed in her mind.

“Yep,” Lynne said brightly. “The ambulance took a girl in shock and guy missing an arm earlier tonight. There’s a third person who’s missing.”

_And you want to go in by yourself?_

“Well, the third kid might be dead. And if I waited for backup they might object to me bringing a cat into a potential crime scene.”

_Fair_ Sissel stretched and jumped on her shoulder. If this ended in a fatal accident for Lynne, well. It wouldn’t be the first time. Or the fifteenth.

“This cave feels just like a horror movie. Like something spooky is about to happen.”

_Please don’t tempt fate_ Sissel pleaded. _You know it doesn’t like you_

“I don’t know, I got to meet you, after all.” She reached up and scratched Sissel behind the ears. 

He purred loudly, leaning heavily into her hand. _That is true_. All levity left them though, as they turned the corner and saw what they assumed to be the body of the third member of the group impaled on a stalagmite.

Lynne’s hand flew to her mouth. She’d seen a number of deaths and died a fair few times herself, but this was just gruesome.

“You’re going to fix this, Sissel, right?” Lynne’s normal exuberance has dissipated.

_Of course,that’s why I’m here_. Sissel jumped down from her shoulder and tried to make it to the body without stepping in the blood. Well, at least when he was done he’ll never have had any blood to step in in the first pace.

Sissel switched his perspective to the ghost world. _Yikes_ There was a familiar energy radiating from Lewis and several more cores in the cave walls and on the stalagmites than there should have been. Was there another Temsik meteor? Maybe this cave system was formed by such a meteor crashing into the mountain?

A problem for later. Right now he had to save this guy. Sissel reached his soul outside his body and into the dead guy’s. 

**“ARRRRRRRTTTHHHHHHUR!”**

Sissel flinched at the bellow. This ghost was certainly awake already. “Keep it down would you.” 

“Wait, who’s there?” The purple man started. “A kitten? You can talk like Mystery?”

“I don’t know who Mystery is, but I can’t really talk. I can project my thoughts into people who have died.” he explained.

“Died…I’m dead… He killed me…” Rage seemed to overflow the ghost. “ **Arthur, you piece of shit, when I get my hands on you-!** ”

“Easy there big guy. Let’s work on fixing this first.”

“What’s there to fix!” the purple guy demanded. “I’m dead. You can’t fix that.” 

“You can’t, but I can. You see, certain people are gifted with certain powers in death. Mine is the ability to go back in time four minutes and try to change the course of fate.”

“You…you really can do that?”

“Watch me.” Sissel concentrated and felt time beginning to rewind. The body, the cave, the green hand that was about to grab Lynne, all of it dissolved into the past.

~

The van pulled up to the cave entrance. “We’re here!” a girl in blue proclaimed, jumping out of the passenger door with a small dog on her heels.

_Vivi_ his guest said wistfully.

“Lewis, Arthur are you coming?”

“Calm down Vivi.” The living version of his tagalong laughed as he exited the driver’s seat, along with a sullen blond man.

_Arrrrrrhur_ his guest growled in hatred.

_I supposed that would make you Lewis?_ Sissel inquired, but Lewis didn’t answer, focusing on this ‘Arthur’.

The four living people entered the cave. They split up at the fork, Vivi and her dog going down and Lewis and Arthur going up, though not before Vivi gave him a kiss on his cheek that made Lewis turn red and Arthur grumble. The two made their way to the top of the path which let out over a cliff.

“Man, those are a lot of spikes down there. It looks like the jaw of some monster. Doesn’t it Arthur?… Arthur?”

Lewis turned around just in time to see his best friends hand shove him off the edge. He toppled down until the stalagmite pierced his chest, ending the recap.

“We’ve known each other since we were kids. He was my best friend and he just killed me in cold blood. Why? Was it Vivi? Damn you, Arthur. If it wasn’t for you, Vivi and me could have lived our lives happily.”

“I don’t know why he did it.” Sissel answered honestly. Though it didn’t seem as out of nowhere as his fellow ghost seemed to think. The other man had clearly been upset the entirety of those four minutes. What was the saying? ‘If you think someone goes from 0 to 60 in a second, it means you’ve failed to notice how long they’ve been at 59′. Lewis probably wouldn’t appreciate him saying that though. “Maybe we can find out, but the important thing is we change it. But first we have to get up there.”

“Up?” Lewis realized they were on the tip of the stalagmite that would kill him. He tried to move, but found himself stuck.

“We need to climb up the cores.” Sissel reached out with his soul and snagged a taller stalagmite before grasping onto one on the cave wall.

“Are we going to have enough time?” Lewis asked, worried.

“I wouldn’t want to waste a second.”

By the time they reached the top of the cliff, past Lewis and Arthur were already there. “Man, those are a lot of spikes down there. It looks like the jaw of some monster. Doesn’t it Arthur?”

_There’s not much time_ Sissel jumped to the torch in Past Lewis’s hands

_The fire looks different_ Lewis commented. 

It didn’t look any different to Sissel. _Maybe it’s your ghost trick? Try something?_

Apparently Lewis did, because the torch suddenly flared, startling his living self and causing Arthur to take a step back and cover his face with his hand.

_Lewis, I’m going to assume that’s not normal._

_No, it’s not_ Lewis gulped.

Half of Arthur’s body was covered in an insidious green and a black and green eye was peering at them from his palm.

_There’s a core in that hand, like the one in your body_ Sissel observed.

_Is that what we need to focus on?_ Lewis asked.

_Cores like that only appear in the dead. And it’s always in their heart, not a hand. So it’s at least worth checking out._ Sissel jumped to the core, Lewis right behind him, and entered the ghost world of whatever was in there.

“What is that?” Lewis asked in horror at the souls they found there. It was a green twisting thing, shifting between things that looked like a bat, a rat, with some of Arthur himself.

“I am the god of this cave. I can take any body I please, but I’m so tired of vermin. A living human has walked into my path, and I can’t just let that go!” it said in a voice that sounded like several talking over each other.

Sissel felt a feeling of revulsion. In all likelihood this was someone who’d died in the cave and gained the ghost trick of manipulating living bodies. That this was something his Yomiel could have become frightened him.

“You think you can just replace someone?” Lewis accused.

“Of course not!” it laughed. “First I’ll have to kill everyone close to him, so no one will come looking. Then I’ll be free.”

“That’s why you killed me!” Lewis roared. “You killed me and made me think Arthur did it! If I had that fire here I’d burn you to **ashes!** ”

The ghost world seem to shudder. “What did you do?” The invading ghost screamed as things began to destabilize. Sissel jumped back into the torch to see what had happened.

The torch had been flung to the ground. Living Lewis had flung it aside and was standing over Arthur, shaking him.

_Get away from him_ Ghost Lewis pleaded. _It could be a trap from the monster._

_It’s not,_ said Sissel. _Look, Arthur has his own core now._ Right where his heart was, radiating energy like Lewis had been.  
  


_You mean Arthur’s-_ Lewis flung himself from the torch into the newly formed ghost world. By the time Sissel followed Lewis was cradling the unformed ghost in his arms. “Wake up, wake up, buddy . Please it’s me, it’s Lewis.” A far cry from those screams of revenge only minutes earlier.

  
“Lewis?” the newly formed spirit questioned. “Am I Lewis?” The unformed soul expanded until it was a duplicate of the man holding him.

“No, he’s Lewis. You’re Arthur.” Sissel corrected.

“Arthur I…oh…” The ghost shrunk back to Arthur’s normal size.

“Is that normal?” Lewis asked concerned,

“It is,” Sissel assured. “The newly dead are easily confused. Trust me.”

“Dead?” Arthur looked confused. “I’m dead? How did I die?”  
  


“I don’t know. We were talking to the thing that was controlling you-”

  
“Controlling me? What are you talking about?”

“Being controlled by a Manipulator can mess with your memories.” Sissel explained. “I’ve dealt with a case like this before, and that was common among the victims. A Manipulator is a ghost who can control living bodies the way I can turn back time and Lewis can manipulate fire.”  
  


“So I was possessed?” Arthur clutched his head. “What did it want?”

“To steal your body and kill anyone who’d miss you. It pushed me off the cliff once. Sissel here rewound time to save me, but for some reason you died instead.”

“Oh. Mission Accomplished, I guess.” Arthur seemed to close off.

“What do you mean ‘Mission Accomplished’? You’re dead Arthur!” Lewis seemed on the verge of panic.

“And if it didn’t happen in front of you would you even notice?” 

Lewis flinched back as if struck. “Of course I would notice, what are you talking about?”

“I didn’t say anything.” Arthur said defensively.

“You thought it. That’s the same thing here.” Sissel stretched. “Shouldn’t we get to fixing things?”

“Seem pretty fixed to me.” Arthur shrugged. “You wanted to save Lewis. Lewis is saved.”

“And you’re dead in my place, that’s not ‘fixed’.” Lewis sounded frustrated. “And what was that about not knowing you’d be dead if it didn’t happen in front of me?”  
  


It was obvious from the look on Arthur’s face he didn’t want to talk, but as Sissel said, thoughts were as good as words. “You’ve barely even looked at me since you started dating Vivi. Neither of you have. I’m just there in the background. You’d probably be happier if I just vanished and you could just live happily ever after with Vivi.”

It was almost word for word what he had said earlier. Lewis’s guilt was further compounded by a tiny ‘I knew it’ from Arthur, revealing just as he had heard Arthur’s thoughts, Arthur had heard his. “That doesn’t count. That was when I thought you’d murdered me.”

“You’d still be better off without a third wheel dragging you down.” Arthur refused to look Lewis in the eye.

Sissel sighed. This felt like Jowd all over again, believing his death was the ‘right’ thing for those who loved him. Well he didn’t take it from the detective and he wasn’t taking it from Arthur.

“I assume we’re going to save Arthur too,” Sissel asked, knowing the answer.

“Oh yeah, I’m not coming back to life without him.” Lewis was filled with determination.

“As you wish,” Sissel smiled as the world dissolved again. The ghost world, Arthur’s body, the green spirit leaping from his arm to Lewis’s, Mystery growing in size as he charged forward. All were erased as time rewound to four minutes earlier.

~

This was the second time Arthur and Sissel watched the van pull up, and the third time for Lewis. It was strange how different Arthur seemed each time to him. The first time he hadn’t noticed him much at all, which sadly fit into Arthur’s belief they didn’t want him here. The second time his bearing had seemed so sinister, colored as it was by his presumed murder. Now though, Arthur seemed so sad. And Lewis couldn’t help hating himself a little for how long he’d let it go on.

The scene followed past the split-up, up to the path.

There Sissel pointed out as the other ghost jumped into Arthur and he began to turn green.  
  


Lewis growled, but Arthur just seemed to observe, having no strong feelings on his own possession. At least not until his body began to advance on Lewis with a clear stance to push him over the edge.

“Man, those are a lot of spikes down there. It looks like the jaw of some monster. Doesn’t it Arthur?”

Past Lewis turned around and suddenly his torch flared up.

_That still happened? I’m not touching it now?_ Lewis wondered.

_Past you is. We’ve already changed your fate, so we’re going from the new timeline._

The monster in Arthur’s body reared back, startled by the light. Past Lewis likewise froze at seeing the inhuman color and extra eye on his friend. 

“Arthur? What’s going on?” Past Lewis asked nervously. He swung the torch halfheartedly, as if he wanted to ward off the monster, but still concerned for his friend. Suddenly the flame gushed out, hitting Arthur and the invader right in their face.  
  


“NO!” Past Lewis screamed, throwing the torch aside as he ran to his friend. Arthur tried a few rattling breaths before his burned lungs gave out.

_Glad I don’t remember that_ Arthur said dryly.

_Why did the torch explode like that? We were talking to the evil spirit at the time?_ Lewis wondered

Sissel winced _You were talking about burning the spirit to nothing. I’m guessing you don’t need to be touching the fire to affect it_

_You mean I killed Arthur?_ Lewis sounded like he was going to be sick _I…I just wanted to stop the thing possessing him. I never meant-_

_Lewis focus. We’re saving him._ Sissel reminded. _And at least now we don’t have to climb a cliff_

It was true. They had begun on the spot Arthur had died. There were still cores on the walls, but nothing they could manipulate or change. _Let’s get going._

_I might as well stay here_ Arthur shrugged again _Not like I’ll be much use._

_Stop talking about that._ Lewis chided. _And besides, we might need your trick._

_My what?_

_When you die you get a trick. Sissel can turn back time and I can amplify fire. I don’t know what you can do, but we’ll need all the help we can get_

_Fine_ Arthur sounded resigned.

As they jumped from core to core, a green bat, also with a core, flew overhead.

_I think that’s our Manipulator. Probably scoping out his new body_ Sissel observed

_But how do we stop him?_ Lewis wondered.

Footsteps echoed through the stone path. Past Lewis and Arthur were coming down the way. They passed under the bat, which spread its wings, ready to take flight.

_Lewis now! Fire up that torch_ Sissel commanded.

The flames leapt up, flash frying the bat, which collapsed with a small screech. 

“What just happened?” Past Lewis exclaimed as Past Arthur jumped back. “Oh no, poor thing.” Lewis started to move towards the bat.  
  


_Stay away from it!_ Arthur called out in panic, not wanting to see Lewis get possessed by the creature.

“What was that Artie?” Past Lewis turned his head.

“I didn’t say anything,” Past Arthur protested.

“You didn’t tell me to stay away from the bat?”

“No, but you probably should. It might have been rabid,” Past Arthur pointed out.

The three ghosts were stunned.

_Your trick is being heard by the living_ Sissel said in disbelief. _Do you have ANY idea how useful that would have been?_

_You saved us_ Lewis cheered. _Now the Manipulator can’t steal my body_

_You burned the guy in the first place_ Arthur sounded pleased with the praise, even as he tried to deflect it. 

_Sadly, we’re not out of the woods yet_ A sickly green spirit jumped from the dead bat’s body into a another one, which took off after their living selves.

_Oh hell no._ Lewis growled, trying to take off after him.

_And now he’s going to be on the look out for fire_ Arthur bemoaned _We’re not going to catch him like that again. What can we-_

He was interrupted by a slight jangling sound as a small dog followed the boys up the path.

_Mystery!_ Arthur called out, causing the dog to stop

“Arthur?”

_He can talk?_ Sissel asked puzzled. Sure dogs could talk in the spirit world, where all thoughts were connected. But in the living world?

_I’m a ghost. Lewis is here too and another ghost named SIssel. There’s something in this cave Sissel calls a Manipulator that steals bodies. It killed us but Sissel can reverse time a little so we’re trying to keep our past selves alive and uncontrolled._

Sissel barely had time to jump to the dogtag and Arthur to his glasses before Mystery took off at a run. 

_Lewis, jump on his collar!_ Sissel yelled as they ran past to the ghost still trying to catch up to the bat. He jumped just in time and the dog and three ghosts charged down the path.  
  


“Lewis, Arthur, you have to get out of here!” Mystery called out as he caught up with them.

_Tell them it’s a natural gas leak_ Ghost Arthur whispered to him _They might argue a supernatural occurrence, but no one’s staying around to inhale more methane._

It was a fair point, and Mystery admired the ghost’s quick thinking. He did not want to take the time to debate whether or not a ghost existed and why they shouldn’t stay to study it if it did. “I smelled something strange on this path. I think there’s some build up of natural gas in this cave.“

“Oh god, that makes sense.” Past Arthur’s eyes widened in realization. “The reports of bad feelings and strange behavior were from methane poisoning. And the thing that happened with your torch earlier!”

All the color drained from Past Lewis’s face. “Vivi! I need to get to Vivi!” He took off running, with Arthur at his heels shouting for him to be careful.

_There he is!_ Lewis shouted as a green bat curved around the group, aiming for Past Arthur’s unguarded back.

As silent as an owl going in for the kill, Mystery leapt up, grabbed the bat, and landed without a sound.

_You’ll do_ it cackled, reaching from the bat to the dog.

Their Past selves never saw, they had already turned a corner, but in that instant Mystery grew several magnitudes his normal size, snout lengthening and several more tails popping up. He let loose a surge of power that knocked the green spirit bat into the bat and rattled the three riders.

_Um, I was under the impression Mystery was a dog._ For the first time nervousness filled Sissel’s voice. _Because as far as I know dogs don’t change in size and can’t do that to ghosts._

_No, that was our understanding too._ Lewis sounded as shaken as Sissel sounded.

Mystery kept the Manipulator pinned beneath his paw. Listening to Past Lewis and Arthur find Vivi and the three of them heading upward. He then grabbed the now injured bat and flung it off the edge, before shrinking back down.

“It should be sealed in that form. Hopefully it’s helpless to harm anyone else.” Mystery said, shrinking back down.

_I have several questions,_ Arthur mumbled.

_Let’s head out. Once we know your past selves are safe I can collapse the timeline and set this as the actual events._

Arthur relayed this to Mystery, who shuddered. “Sissel, your powers are terrifying.”

_Right back at him_

Mystery ran back to the entrance, meeting up with his humans at the intersection. They ran out the entrance as fast as they could.

_That should be good. I’m going to return to my present which should set the timeline_

Sissel let go and found himself shooting through time, to the couple of hours in the future, the same time Lynne had brought him to the cave.

~

“You can’t still be sulking,” Lewis chuckled as he drove.

“I really thought when might find something this time.” Vivi pouted. “Instead it was just a hazard zone,”

“Case is still solved though.” Arthur said in a monotone voice from the back seat.

“But it’s not _satisfying_ ,” She grumbled.

“It’s not about it being satisfying.” Lewis was grinning.”It’s about - **_Holy crap!_** ” Lewis slammed the brakes of the van as Arthur sat up, screaming.

“What is it?” Vivi swung her head around, trying to see what happened. 

“Did that really happen?” Arthur asked his voice shaking. “Mystery? Sissel?”

_It did_ came a voice only Arthur and Lewis heard from Mystery’s dog tag.

An expletive slipped from Lewis’s lips as he slumped over.

“So you do remember,” Mystery said, curious.

“Can someone explain what’s happening? What’s wrong that everyone seems to know about but me?”

“There was a malevolent entity in the cave. Thankfully there was a benevolent one too, by the name of Sissel.” Mystery explained.

“Then we have to go back!” A grin spread across Vivi’s face. “Let’s check out these entities.”

“Vivi no!” Lewis’s voice was firm in a way he never was with her.

“But-”

“Vivi, Sissel’s power is to rewind time when he comes in contact with a corpse. The corpse he used was Lewis’s.” Arthur explained.

All the excitement left Vivi as that. “Lewis’s?”

“Arthur died too.” Lewis squinted at him in the rear view mirror. “Don’t downplay your own death.”

VIvi was gray by this point. “You died? You both died?” she said in a voice so small it didn’t seem like it could come from her.

Lewis hugged her, so glad he had arms to do so. “We did, but Sissel, who’s currently haunting Mystery’s dog tag, brought us back.”

“Thank you Sissel,” Vivi turned around to face the dog tag. “I can never repay you for what you’ve done.”

_It’s what I do._ The cat said happily. _If you drop me off at a land line I can make my way back to my people. I need to tell them about the Manipulator._

“Will do.” Lewis started to get the van moving again.  
  


“Wait, Sissel said he couldn’t talk to the living. How come we can hear him now?” Arthur wondered.

“Hear who?” Vivi asked. “I haven’t heard anyone?”

“Nor I, though I vaguely sense his presence in my tag.” Mystery confirmed.

_Side effect of being dead._ Sissel explained. _You now have cores of your own, so you can hear me, and presumably other ghosts._

“Don’t want to think about that too much.” Lewis adjusted the route he was taking. “Sorry Vi, but after all of this I think our ghost tour needs to wait.”

“You died, Lew. You really think I have a problem with you wanting to go home?” She leaned against this arm, as if making sure he was still there.

“Once we get home we’ll get you to a landline, Sissel.” Lewis promised. “And first thing tomorrow we start looking into therapy for Arthur.”

“Wait, what?” Arthur sat up straight. “Why therapy for me? We both went through the same thing?”

“Because my reaction to being killed wasn’t ‘I guess this is for the best’. This isn’t a gloomy phase you’re going through, this is depression. And I’m not losing you to it any more than I am to the Manipulator,”

Had Jowd been depressed too? Sissel wondered. Was that why he had himself locked in a cage and all but refused to save himself until his daughter was in danger. He’d after to ask.

After he told them about the second Temsik site and manipulator, of course. It would be a lot of work, but it was something his whole colony could come together on, and those were always good.

And it may be his feline curiosity, but he kind of hoped they discussed what the hell that ‘dog’ was before sending him on his way.


	17. Feel the Rain on your Skin

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Based on the Demon Au from @Providentially_Demonic and EctoImp

**Spring Rain**

For all that the cave changed them irrevocably, the cave itself never did. It didn’t get warmer or cooler during their stay. There were no sounds of animals and the only light came from Lewis. Certainly no wind or precipitation.

It made both of them appreciate being outside all the more. There was magic now in the scents carried in the wind. Of the songs of birds and chirps of crickets. The only thing that could relax Arthur to a nap faster than the sun warming him and a light breeze dancing over his skin was if Lewis was holding him while it happened.

It was, without a doubt, one of Arthur’s favorite activities since their explosive escape from the cave a couple of weeks prior. Just laying on the grass outside the little cottage he and Lewis now shared and watching the clouds drift by. It wasn’t just a daytime activity either. Far too many nights were interrupted by nightmares on Arthur’s part. Some were memories of Lewis’s death, his own painful transformation, and being trapped in the cave. Others were made up of the dark whispers he had heard, trying to steal his body from him (was it even his body anymore? It certainly didn’t look it.) The worst though, were dreams of the cave where Lewis didn’t come back and he was trapped alone in the darkness with nothing but pain and the voice.

Those dreams always ended with him wrapped in big strong arms. Lewis would hold him close and whisper that he was safe and never alone. Arthur would cling to him, arms and wings wrapped tightly around his torso and his tail doing a great impression of a blood pressure cuff on Lewis’s arm or leg. Lewis never complained though, and just carried him outside, where they would watch the stars until either Arthur fell back asleep or the sun came up. The only exception was when the night was overcast and neither the moon or stars shined through. Neither of them liked seeing dark nothingness above them and on those night they stayed inside by the fire, Lewis cuddling him and singing lullabies.

Arthur didn’t know if ghosts could have nightmares when they rested in their anchor. Lewis never gave him an answer when asked, which either meant yes or that Lewis still found the whole thing surreal and didn’t want to talk about it. Arthur decided to err on the side of doing what he could and whenever Lewis had to rest Arthur would cradle the locket close to his chest, whispering comfort and focusing on how grateful he was that Lewis had been with him every step of the way.

He was laying on the couch, doing just that when a low rumbling sound washed over him. He perked his ears, waiting to see if the sound happened again. A few minutes later another rumble had Arthur off the couch and heading towards the door.

The clouds were still a ways away, but he could see them heading closer, flashes of light like the flash of a lighthouse. He could see the curtain of rain approaching, hear birds calling out as they tried to make it to shelter before the rains started.

The glare of the sun was blocked out as the colors became more vibrant. The small hairs on the nape of Arthur’s neck and his tail prickled as the atmosphere changed. Then it happened.

_Pit Pat PitPatPitPat_

The worst of the clouds were still a ways off, but the first drops of rain was hitting the porch roof. Arthur took a hesitant step off the porch. He had been through probably hundreds of rains storms in his life, and not felt more about them then mild annoyance. This one though…

There seemed to be something different about this one. Something _wilder_ , for all the storm didn’t seem that bad. Maybe it was just that this was the first rain he’d seen since the cave. Maybe he was just projecting some emotions on to the storm. Either way he took his a hesitant step off the porch and into the rain.

The drops that hit him were cold, not warm like it would be in mid summer. Still he leaned into it, lifting his head and feeling the rain run down his face and back. His wings spread out and he could feel even more rain running down. It felt freeing. Cleansing.

The golden heart he clutched to his chest pulsed and in a rush of purple flames Lewis appeared. “Arthur what’s going on? You’re…” His initial thoughts of _out in the rain_ and _soaking wet_ were quickly replaced by **happy**. Arthur tended toward melancholy, even on good days. But he was standing before him with a big grin on his face and his tail twitching like that one internet cat that liked squeezing into small boxes.

Arthur surged forward, capturing him in a hug. “It’s raining Lew!”

“I noticed.” Lewis laughed at the sheer mirth in Arthur’s face. “Having fun?”  
  


“Mmmhmm,” Arthur was in full on snuggle mode, so with a move born of long practice Lewis scooped him up and carried him to the porch. He didn’t want to go inside, not when Arthur seemed to be enjoying the weather so much. Also not when they were dripping wet.

Responding to his thoughts, his little deadbeats floated out of the house, each carrying a towel several sizes larger than it. Lewis plopped on over his head, and put another over Arthur, scrubbing his blonde mane. Arthur laughed and playfully shoved his hand away, but left the towel where it was.

“Since when are you such a big fan of rain?” Lewis asked, using his own towel to dry himself off.

“Since now I guess. It’s just so beautiful and free. We’re really free aren’t we, Lew?” 

The last part was said softly and gave Lewis a better idea of where this was coming from.

“We are.” Lewis said, just as softly. “We’re free.”

**Summer Rain**

“Not now,” Lewis grumbled as he felt the first few drops fall in his head.

Given their need to stay hidden and their lack of funds, getting food for Arthur had turned into a matter of foraging and fishing. (They’d briefly considered hunting, had managed to capture a rabbit on a cage trap, and promptly let it go as neither had the heart to kill it). They’d also taken to trying to cultivate some of the edible plants they’d found, with mixed successes.

Arthur had been re-designing the fish trap they were using and had been focused enough that Lewis felt okay going to forage by himself, after telling Arthur where he’d be going. There had been a spot in the forest where Lewis had found some manzanilla shrubs and something he hoped would be a walnut tree (he wouldn’t know for sure for another few weeks)

The manzanilla was just starting to fruit, not ready to be harvested, but Lewis was content collecting some flower petals. It wouldn’t quite be lemonade, but it would be a nice drink for a summer’s day.

He’d just finished gathering petals when a familiar scent wafted past him. Lewis had froze, believing for a moment he’d imagined it. But the wind picked up again and the scent was even stronger. Lewis followed it until he’d found a patch of a grass-like plants with small white flowers.

Garlic.

Without salt or pepper, seasoning hadn’t been anywhere close to his normal skill level. Garlic, though, he could use to create something spectacular. Petals gently stored in the pocket of his vest, Lewis went to work digging up the wonderful aromatic, placing them in a bag he’d conjured. He’d just about finished when those first few raindrops had found him.

He pulled the petals from his pocket and conjured a small box to keep them dry before the rain really picked up. Lewis took a moment to get his surroundings and realized he’d not gone this far out before and wasn’t completely sure how to get back. He could almost kick himself for just following a scent on a breeze and not paying attention to where he was going, garlic be damned.

_You could fly up_ a small voice in his head suggested. _Get your bearing that way_

No, if he didn’t know where he was, that was too risky. What if he was right by someone’s house and he was seen? Or near a road and seeing him caused someone to crash? They were excuses, true. He knew the real reason was the idea of being high enough over the trees scared the bejeezus out of him. But they were valid enough he convinced himself to keep his feet on the ground. One hand keeping the rain out of his eyes, Lewis picked the direction he thought he’d come from and ventured back. The trees looked kind of familiar, but he knew how deceptive wooded areas could be.

_What if he’d gotten well and truly lost? Would Arthur be okay? What if Arthur though he had **abandoned** him? _

Each thought made him a little more frantic, the worsening rain driving him even further in panic. Was that the same manzanilla he’d been picking petals from, or different plant altogether? His anchor thudded against his chest as though it was a beating heart. Forget the height, he was going to fly. The fear of being up high was terrifying, but nothing next to the fear of leaving Arthur alone. He just needed to get up his courage and-

“ _Found you!_ ” The excitement in Arthur’s voice matched the relief Lewis felt as he turned and saw him best friend lolloping towards him, still a bit awkward on all fours, but right now the best thing Lewis had ever seen.

In one last leap Arthur was on him, arms wrapped around his waist and one wing spread over Lewis’s head, protecting him from the rain. “I came looking for you when the rain started,” Arthur explained. 

“I’m glad you did. I maaay have gotten myself turned around,” Lewis admitted sheepishly, one hand behind his neck.

“Well let me then have the honor of escorting you home.” Arthur didn’t move the wing protecting Lewis, but swiveled to loop Lewis’s arm in his own. “Shall we?”

“Let’s,” Lewis laughed in spite of himself and let himself be led back to their cottage.

They got up to the porch and Arthur attempted to to squeeze out his mane, which had gotten thoroughly soaked.

“Let me,” Lewis offered, setting down the bag of garlic. He ran a warmer than usual hand through Arthur’s hair. Arthur made an _almost_ purring sound as he melted against Lewis’s touch. Lewis smiled, sitting down and pulling him into his lap, where he continued to comb Arthur’s hair with his fingers, slowly drying it.

“Damn. You would be, like, the kings of massages now.” Arthur commented, his tone completely relaxed.

“Well, you’ve always been the king of tense muscles, so I guess it works out.,”

“Mmmm” Arthur didn’t even attempt a comeback, just relaxing to the impromptu scalp massage and the sound of the rain around them.

_The rain wasn’t so bad_ Lewis decided. _Not bad at all._

**Autumn Rain**

The rains in autumn were a lot more violent than the showers of summer. It was colder with high winds and _much_ more thunder and lightning. Even with his newfound love of rain Arthur had no interest in going past the porch. He kept his wings tight around him to the best of his ability, afraid if a good gust caught them he’d go flying.

“I’m a bit worried about the garden,” Lewis confessed, handing Arthur a mug with primrose tea.

“Do we want to try and enclose it, like a greenhouse?” Arthur suggested.

“I don’t think we need to go that far, but some more wind breaks would not go amiss. Not if it keeps up like this.”

“I don’t know that it will.” Arthur shrugged. “We’re just about out of the season for it. But I’m happy to help you put some up if you want to.” Then he cocked his head, “Lewis do you hear that?”

“The only thing I hear is the wind,” Lewis strained to listen above the storm. Then it caught his ears just after the crash of thunder, a small child’s scream of terror. Lewis bolted off the porch without thinking, his deadbeats right behind him.

They separated as they went, Lewis wanting to cover as much ground as possible. After getting lost he’d made sure he was familiar with every inch of the wilderness around there cottage. But knowing his way around didn’t tell him where the child was.

Another frightened scream, followed by a call of “Lewis I found him!” gave him the lead he needed. He and his deadbeats swooped in to where they found a small boy around Belle’s age huddled against a tree. He was shaking slightly and Lewis wasn’t sure if it was from being cold, or from seeing Arthur, as the boy seemed terrified by him.

Arthur shot Lewis a look, as if pleading with him to do something. Lewis conjured a copy of his glasses, no sense in scaring the kid more than he already was. “Hey kid, what’s your name?”

The kid’s eyes shifted back and forth between Lewis and Arthur. 

“My name’s Lewis, and this is Arthur. We’re not going to hurt you, I promise. But it’s not safe out here.” As if to prove his point, there was a loud crack and the sound of a large branch falling nearby.

“We need to get him inside, Lew. It’s getting dangerous.” Arthur had to raise his voice to be heard over the storm. 

The kid was obviously weighing his option whether to go with them or run when another crash of thunder had him jumping into Lewis’s offered hand. 

“It’s okay, it’s okay,” Lewis said softly. The child was definitely colder than he should have been and Lewis turned up the heat just a little. He looked up at his little minions. “Can you do a search in case there’s someone around looking for him?”  
  


His deadbeats saluted and scattered again and Lewis picked up the boy and held him to his chest. He headed back to the house as fast as he could, Arthur right behind him. He didn’t relax until they were in the door, out of the storm.

“What is this place?” The kid asked, poking his head up.

“It’s our home,” Lewis gently explained. “You can stay here until the storm lets up and we can take you back to civilization.”

“Do you have a phone?” The boy tried to hold back a sniffle. “My Mom’s got to be really worried.”

“We don’t have any electricity here, sorry. But there’s a convenience store a bit away. They’ll have a phone.”

“Oh…” The kid tucked his head down.

“Don’t worry, big storms like this usually don’t last too long, and this one’s been going for a bit.” He didn’t want to let go of the kid just yet, not until at the very least his clothes were dry. Hopefully with his powers acting as a personal heater that wouldn’t take too long.

Meanwhile Arthur slinked back into the house, trying to keep the kid from noticing him just yet. It was funny, Arthur always thought he would be crushed the first time someone was scared of him, but he wasn’t. Maybe it was the crisis situation of a lost child, or maybe just that he was a kid and Arthur had seen kids be scared of _Lance_ of all people.

Arthur had shook himself dry as best he could on the porch, but still went straight for a towel so he didn’t drip more than necessary. He tried to think of something he could do to help. Something warm to eat would probably be good for the kid. He stuck his head in the kitchen, trying to see if Lewis had started dinner. Sure enough on the stove was a pot containing what Arthur could now recognize as mashed yucca root. Thankfully it was a slow cooking food that hadn’t burned during their run into the forest. 

Arthur scooped it up in a bowl and added some of the blackberry preserves Lewis had made to make it a bit sweeter for the kid. Now the hard part - getting him to eat it. This would be easier if Lew still had a Deadbeat around, those things were too cute to be scared of.

Arthur pulled his wings as tight and hunched over, trying to look smaller. He made his way into the living roof and saw the kid curled up on Lewis’s lap. 

“I brought you some food,” he said softly.

The kid yelped and buried his face in Lewis’s chest.

“It’s okay,” Lewis said soothingly. “I told you. Arthur isn’t going to hurt you.” Even as he said it, Lewis shot his a look as if to say _That’s your dinner?_

_I survived weeks without food, I can miss one dinner. And he needs it more_ , was Arthur’s returning look. “It’s warm and tasty,” Arthur promised. “And hey, bet you can’t guess what my favorite food is?”

The boy peeked at him fearfully. “Is it little boys?”

“Not even close.” Arthur chuckled, even though it was a little forced. “Got another guess?”

“Is it… snakes and rats?” The boy looked like he was thinking hard.

“No, and ew.”

“Rattlesnake pasta is good,” Lewis argued.

“You think chocolate covered fire tastes good, invalid.” Arthur stuck out his tongue.

“Rude,” was Lewis’s only reply. 

“And it’s pizza.” Arthur winked at the kid, who had been following their back and forth like a tennis match.

His jaw dropped. “P- _Pizza_?”

“With fish on it, so I don’t think Arthur has any room to complain about my taste in snacks.” Lewis clarified.

“Yes, and it’s delicious. But the pizza guy won’t deliver out here, so we’ve got to make due.” Arthur said sadly. “But this stuff is pretty good, and it’s warm too.”

The kid still looked at him suspiciously but took the bowl. He took one bite, not breaking eye contact with Arthur, only for them to widen in surprise. “S’good.”

“Told you. Who knows, maybe by the time you’re finished, the rain will stop.” Arthur suggested. As if on queue, there was another crash of thunder, causing the kid to drop the bowl and bury himself into Lewis’s chest.

Arthur dove forward, catching the bowl before it hit the ground. The kid sniffed a bit. “M’sorry. I know I shouldn’t be scared of thunder and lightning.”

“Hey, it’s okay to be scared. I used to be scared almost all the time.” Arthur confessed.

“Why would you be scared? You’re a monster?”

“He’s not!” The words escaped Lewis’s mouth before Arthur could even say anything. “He’s not a monster.”

“He’s not?” The kid looked at Arthur’s horns and wings in confusion.

“Let me tell you a story while you finish eating.” Lewis sat back as Arthur handed the kid the bowl again. “Once upon a time there were three friends. One day they heard about an evil monster that lived in a cave.”

Arthur shuddered at the reminder.

“They faced the monster and beat it. But as it died, the monster decided to curse them. The first was the leader. She was brave and caring woman who would do anything for her friends. But the monster wiped them from her memory. She wandered out of the cave, not knowing her friends were hurt and needed help. That, and all the happy memories of them together, was gone.”

Lewis couldn’t help drooping a bit as he told the story. Arthur’s wings had closed around himself and his tail had wrapped itself around Lewis’s ankle.

“The second friend was cursed to walk the world as a ghost. He looked mostly normal, but he could neither eat nor truly sleep. And if he got mad his hair turned to flames. But the worst curse was done to third friend, for he was the one who had defeated the monster in the end.”

“This friend was the kindest and most loyal of the three. But he was cursed to look like the monster so people would be afraid of him and attack him. There was a fourth person in the cave. I won’t call him a friend, because he willingly abandoned the second and third to their fates, but before he left he attacked the third friend thinking he was the monster, and then closed the cave so he could never be free, even if it meant trapping in the last two as well. But he didn’t count on the second friend using his curse to escape and free the third.”

“If people saw Arthur, they’d be scared of him, so we have to hide in the woods. But we have a nice home and it’s not too bad out here. But no one can know we’re here, so when you go back you need to keep this a secret, okay?”

“Is there a way to break the curse?” As fantastical a story as it was, Arthur was too real for him to ignore it.

“I’m sure there is. We just don’t know it yet, but one day we’ll figure it out.” Lewis assured him.

The boy was quiet for a moment. “Josiah. That’s my name. But you can call me Joe.”

“It’s nice to meet you, Joe.” Arthur held out a clawed hand and let Joe give it a shake. “See, you shook hands with me. I’d say that’s pretty brave. In fact, stay right here a sec, I’ll be right back.” Arthur went to the bed room and grabbed something from the top shelf of the closet. It had taken his a while to clean all the blood off it, but he hadn’t worn it since losing his vest.

“Here you go.” Arthur gave Joe his star badge. “Let that be a reminder that even when you’re afraid, you’re a really brave kid.”

Joe took the dented yellow tin in his hands, holding it almost reverently.

‘ _Are you sure?_ ’ Lewis mouthed at him, that star being one of Arthur’s very few mementos of happier times, but Arthur nodded. Better it become the treasured item of another kid than just collecting dust.

Joe’s eyes darted over to the window, where the storm still raged. “Can you tell me another story?”

“Of course,” Lewis said softly. “I’ve got several.”

~

“Joe, Joe, it’s time to wake up.”

“Don’t wanna.” He was comfy and warm, being carried in someone’s arms.

“Sorry, little man. But we’re almost to your search party.”

Search party? Joe scrunched his eyes shut trying to figure out what he was being told. That was right, he’d gotten lost in the forest and been found by two very strange people. He cracked his eyes open and saw a wash of green. It was Arthur’s wings, he realized. Arthur had been carrying him while they were walking. The storm had stopped, but now he could hear another sound, people calling his name.

“This is as far as we can go, or else someone might see us.” Lewis explained. “But these little guys will help you.” Three little pink beings appeared on Lewis’s cue.

“What are they?” Joe asked in wonder.

“Just think of them as forest spirits.” Arthur said with a grin. “Kind of like us, I guess.” He put Joe down only for the kid to hug him, then hug Lewis.

“Thank you so much.” Joe whispered.

“Any time kiddo,” Arthur laughed. “That said, it’s probably not a good idea to just wander in the woods. There’s plenty out here that’s dangerous. Like snakes. Which should not go in pasta.”

Joe giggled, before grabbing the tiny hand of the deadbeat. “Bye Arthur. Bye Lewis.”

“Bye Joe,” they said in unison, waving till he was out of sight.

Once gone they let out a breath of relief.

“He’s going to be okay,” Lewis said.

“Yeah, he is. It was…nice, you know? You’re good with kids, Lew.”

Lewis snorted. “I have three younger sisters. What’s your excuse?”

“My excuse?” Arthur asked questioningly.

“You had him go from actively scared of you to hugging you goodbye in the space of a couple of hours. You’re not so bad with kids yourself.”

Arthur was quiet for a moment. “You know you can go back right? Your parents and sisters-”

“Have each other. One day I’ll go back, when you can come with me.”

“That day may never come, Lew. You know that.”

“I know nothing of the kind.” Lewis gave Arthur a gentle kiss on his forehead, right between his horns. 

“What am I, one of your sisters?” Arthur asked fondly.

“You’re family, Artie. Always have been, always will be.” He ruffled his friend hair.

“Don’t start that unless you want the favor returned,” Arthur threatened with a grin. “Let’s go home Lew.”

Lewis put an arm over his shoulder, “Lets.”

**Winter Rain**

Josiah Jones hated the rain. He’d never liked thunder and lightning, but he hadn’t started disliking the rain itself until a few months ago when he’d been lost in the woods. He was saved by the nice forest spirits, but he still had bad dreams about the cold and wet.

It was raining again, even colder in February. The rain had caused his Mom to lose control of the car for a moment and they’d crashed into a guardrail. No one was hurt, and the car wasn’t even badly damaged, but it made him hate the rain even more.

A tow truck had taken them to a little garage in a place called Tempo and his Mom was talking with the mechanic, leaving Joe to sit glaring at the rain out the window.

He reached into his pocket and pulled out the badge Arthur had given him. Arthur told him it was a reminder that he was brave even if he was scared and he needed that now.

“Excuse me?” A lady’s voice startled him out of his thoughts. “My name is Vivi. Could you tell me where you found that?”


End file.
